Incredible Fears
by zoepeanut
Summary: Mass crossover between multiple Disney/Dreamworks movies. After failing to destroy the Guardians, Pitch's plans change. Realizing that they only guard children, he begins to target a new age group, seeing an opportunity to spread fear in those beyond the Guardians' protection. However, he does not realize that these teens are special and capable of fighting back on their own.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I am not the owner of The Incredibles, How to Train Your Dragon, Brave, Tangled, Frozen, or Rise of the Guardians (Since this is a massive crossover, I am only giving the disclaimer once, unless new fandoms are added later on).

 **Warnings:** This story takes place after The Incredibles 2. While I have not planned any direct references to the new movie, spoilers may be hinted at within. Also takes place after a variation on the following: HTTYD 1, ROTG, Tangled, and Frozen. Other characters/fandoms may be added as this story idea progresses.

The battle was harsh and unforgiving. Violet stood with her family, working as a team against a new villain in town going by the name of Shadowlord. Just as the name indicated, he was a super with control over darkness itself. Standing on the streets with no way of seeing even a foot in front of her, Violet felt her pulse race as she searched frantically for at least some sign of her family. Last she saw, her mom and dad had run off to fight him. With the darkness on the streets, too many car crashes had occurred already. The headlights of vehicles were the only things that had allowed Violet to see at first, but the villain had worked quickly to break each and every light providing them with vision.

"Mom? Dad?" Violet tried to catch their attention, calling out around her. People pushed past her as she did so, rushing to try and find freedom. Chaos and panic surrounded her, leaving Violet a bit dazed as she stumbled back from another collision. One person's fast-paced running sent her falling onto her butt, where she grimaced and stared up at the shadowy forms of civilians rushing for safety. This wasn't looking good. A shout in the distance told her the fight was still going on, but it didn't tell her who was hurt. It was masculine, and since the super had been a man, she didn't have enough details to identify the shout as Dash, her dad, or the villain.

Pushing herself back up, Violet sighed and began moving forward. All of this had supposedly been an attempt to rob some big bank nearby. With the security the bank had, apparently the villain thought pure darkness would keep him hidden from both people and cameras. It wasn't a terrible idea, but it also wasn't the brightest plan either. Being in the dark didn't mean it was impossible to stop someone, it just made them harder to identify. Essentially, it was about as useful as wearing a mask while robbing a bank to keep their identity hidden.

Feeling a rush of wind by her side, Violet smiled. However, that smile slowly faded when she realized what the speeding figure actually meant. "Here, take this!" Her smile vanished, however, when she glanced down and spotted what Dash had handed to her in his rush. He was supposed to be watching Jack Jack! Groaning, Violet glared down at the smiling baby now in her arms. What was she supposed to do now?

"You Supers think you are all that, don't you?" The voice of Shadowlord echoed around Violet, along with a dark laugh. "Did you really think all this was for a simple bank? Don't make me laugh." Feeling a chill, Violet's eyes narrowed. Maybe she was onto something before, when she thought about how stupid this villain's plan seemed. There was another ploy here, a second layer to this attack.

Darkness seemed to creep along at her feet, shadows almost moving like smoke in the distance. Stepping away from the sight, Violet's eyes were wide, searching for a hiding place. This enemy's weakness was light, but he had already destroyed the lights as quickly as possible. "Launch me!" The familiar voice of her father made her smile, taking comfort in the fact that at least her parents had a plan. Maybe she was better off just watching Jack Jack. Against this villain, she might not do anything other than get in the way.

Placing a force-field around herself, Violet tried to keep the darkness at bay. The purple lightning-like lines formed a dome around her, stopping all of the dark shadows from entering. "Abandoning your family? Well, I suppose that makes us alike, doesn't it?" Once again, Violet froze. Her grip tightened on the baby, while Jack Jack's smile began to fade. "In fact…my super parents were the reason I grew up like this. _They_ told me to hide, that my powers were _wrong_ and _illegal._ Well…if the law was destined to see me as a villain, than I vowed, I would become the greatest villain this world has ever seen. And my oh so supportive parents…well, I suppose I'll show you exactly what I did to them for how _kind_ they were to me for embracing my true self."

"No! Leave my family alone. If you hurt them, I swear I'll…" Violet trailed off, biting her lip and looking for a chance to fight back. Maybe she could try to sneak up on this villain. Her invisibility was normally her trump card, so it could at least do something to help right now.

Laughter was Shadowlord's response. "Oh, I look forward to it, my dear. Because, once you've understood pain…you'll become just like me." With that, Violet heard a scream. It was too deep to be Shadowlord's voice, though, making her eyes widen.

"Dad!" Her shout was met with no response.

Instead, she heard a distant growl. "You get away from them!" Dash was charging in now, likely recklessly fighting against this guy who had hurt their dad. He was always overconfident, and glaring, Violet lifted her hand to try and protect him. Maybe she could at least get close to where Dash was with her forcefields, just using the sound as a guideline for his location.

"No, Dash, stay back! Get to your sister, leave this to us." Elastagirl's shout made Violet blink, searching for any sign of her mother's red suit. Maybe the color would stand out, even in pure shadows.

A muffled cry came before Dash could respond. "Dash…Dad…what is going on? Mom, where are they? Why isn't Dad answering?" Sweat was forming on her skin, and her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. No one was listening, and now, not even Mom would reply.

As if someone had flicked on a light switch, the darkness vanished in an instant. The sudden light made Violet wince slightly, covering her eyes with her arm. At the same time, Jack Jack began crying in her arms. The baby couldn't be her focus right now, though, not when her parents needed help. Cautiously moving forward, Violet began to drop her arm, squinting out into the street. Broken cars seemed scattered around, some of them from crashing into each other, others from attacks given by Shadowlord. However, what made Violet freeze was the sight of her family. Her dad was collapsed on the ground, his super suit ripped and torn by some unseen force. According to Edna, these suits were supposed to be virtually indestructible. When Dash and Mom didn't look any different, Violet's breathing began to become shallow and harsh. This wasn't possible, it couldn't be real. None of them were moving, and she could have sworn she saw blood…blood on the street and on them.

Standing in front of it all was the man responsible, laughing at her reaction. This time, she couldn't stop herself from screaming, crouching on the ground and holding Jack Jack protectively to her chest. All she could do was keep him safe. Her power was too weak to take this guy down alone, and right now, her parents would want her to make sure the baby survived.

With tears on her cheeks, Violet could practically feel the chill as darkness spread once more. "Do you see now, Violet?" This time, the voice sounded a little higher-pitched, morphing slightly. In her arms, Jack Jack's form seemed to vanish into thin air. Grasping at the spot he had once been, Violet began shaking her head, reaching out until her hand pressed against the barrier created by her forcefield. There, another gloved hand seemed to rise, pressing into the wall against her own. The face of Shadowlord seemed to morph entirely, taking on her own features with a dark and twisted smile. "You're the one who destroyed our family. You are too weak to even admit it, to admit that one day, you will be just like me."

Screeching, Violet tried to scramble away, but the other figure only laughed. "This power will destroy the city! I will make you like me, no matter what it takes." Shaking her head, Violet closed her eyes tightly. In an instant, everything seemed to fade away and she bolted up in her bed, breathing heavily with sweat dropping down her back. Pressing a hand to her head, she slowly began to calm herself. Her breathing became more even, and her heartbeat seemed to slow. All of it, that had just been a dream. Her family had already beaten Shadowlord two weeks ago. In fact, the battle had only taken three minutes. Making things dark really hadn't been that great of a super power, in retrospect.

Shaking her head, Violet swung her legs over the side of her bed, taking one last deep breath. Bad dreams happened all the time, but lately, she seemed to be having more and more of them. At the same time, with the legalization of Supers, battles against criminals were more common than ever. She was likely just stressed and afraid for her family. That would explain why in almost every nightmare, her family died.

Walking around her room, Violet slowly began to get ready for the day. She had school this morning, unfortunately. Summer didn't last long enough, and she was tired of going through the same routine repeatedly. At least Tony would be there. A slight blush formed on her cheeks at the thought. Really, they had only managed to go on about three dates. All of the others that they had planned got interrupted by some robbery or break-in these days. Police were relying heavily on Supers, and her family was the first one called for any danger.

Even with their limited amount of social outings, the guy was sweet enough to still want to date her. Most guys would have been scared away already, thinking she wasn't interested. She just hoped that it wouldn't keep interfering with her relationships, however. While Tony was understanding for now, she had noticed a certain loss of light in his eyes when she talked to him at school. His eagerness was fading, along with his hope that she would stay interested. While she hadn't talked to her parents about it, Violet had a feeling that Tony wouldn't really be coping with too many more canceled dates.

Eating her cereal at the table, Violet remained lost in thought. Sitting across from her was her dad, reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee ready to go. Mom was feeding Jack Jack, who seemed to be having another fit about an unsatisfying meal. The demon baby was roaring in his high-chair, throwing food at Mom along with silverware. However, Mom quickly silenced him by picking up the spoon and making train noises to amuse the baby. She had really gotten the hang of dealing with a super-powered baby these days, though Violet still got worried when Jack Jack's laser eyes burned holes through the walls. One day, the neighbors would begin questioning why they constantly had to have repair men out to do maintenance on the house.

"Mom, this is terrible!" Dash came sprinting down the stairs, nothing but a blur as he approached the table. As soon as he arrived, he tore into the other room, tearing off cushions on the sofa before rushing into the bathroom again. The sound of rummaging could be heard from within, until he came back out and returned. "I can't find…my homework! I spent all that time working on it, and now I'm going to get in trouble again because Mr. Grumby will think I'm lying!"

Still feeding the baby, Mom smiled and watched as Jack Jack giggled at the spiraling spoon in front of him. "Did you check your backpack already? I thought I told you to make sure it was in there before you went to bed last night."

Scowling, Dash opened his bag. "Yes, I did…I told you it is—" He broke off, glancing down at a folder he pulled out of his bag.

Lifting an eyebrow, Violet couldn't help herself. "Oh, so that isn't your homework, Dash? I guess homework just magically appeared in your bag out of nowhere this time."

"Hey, I said I checked it before!" With a huff, he shoved the folder back inside, running over to Violet's side. "It's not like you haven't misplaced your homework before either."

Setting her spoon down, Violet turned towards her brother. She was already in a bad mood from the dream, she didn't need this adding to it. "Yeah, well at least I don't lie about checking in my bag! Mom, tell Dash that it isn't right to lie!"

"Hey!" Dash shouted, looking ready to pounce. "I just didn't see it the first time! It's like…it's like…" He trailed off, trying to think of a simile for his situation.

When he couldn't finish, Violet decided to finish for him. "It's like nothing, Dash! Just leave me alone, I've got to get my own stuff ready for school." With a huff, she shoved her chair back from the table, rushing off towards her room. Behind her, both Dad and Mom stopped in their actions, sharing a look.

She heard a muffled whisper from her brother who stared after her with furrowed brows. "What was that about?"

"I don't know…but I'm going to find out." Mom's voice gave Violet a sinking feeling as she slammed her door shut, sinking to the floor in her room. She had to admit, this really wasn't normally what she was like. She had fought with Dash before, but she never got that angry so quickly. Feeling heaviness in her eyes, Violet took a deep breath and shook her head. She just needed more sleep after that nightmare, she decided. Once school was over, she would take a nap and everything would be back to normal. Grabbing her bag, Violet put on a smile and began moving out the door for class. Things really could only get better from here, and maybe, she could plan another date with Tony that she'd actually be able to go on this time.

 **For those of you unaware, I am currently posting multiple unfinished ideas that I've gotten stuck drafting. Credit will be given if anyone inspires new ideas for these stories, and a poll is on my profile for you to suggest which story I should make my main focus right now! This one I plan on being a massive crossover between many disney/dreamworks movies, though it takes place in a mesh of the world from Incredibles and ROTG. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Moving to a new town was never easy. For Hiccup, he really hated it over all things. Sure, this place was normal, with normal problems like everywhere else in the world. See, the issue was that most places didn't really grasp the big issues. While most places had super heroes like Elastagirl, Frozone, and Mr. Incredible, his home town was used to a different type of hero. This was due to a misconception about how superpowers worked. he realized. For some reason, only the frigid, winterly climate of Berk was capable of allowing even the weakest of animals to develop superpowers, just like humans. At first, the town had been terrified. Hiccup could remember his entire city grouping together to take down the monstrous animals that began to have the ability to breath fire, fly, coat themselves in flames, and even unleash noxious gasses into the air that could ignite with a spark. All of these abilities…seemed to come along with the ability to transform on sight into the monstrous form of a dragon.

Feeling something brush against his leg, Hiccup could only smile fondly at his memories. His Dad had passed away recently, and for most people his age, that would mean finding a new guardian. He had tried to resist, insisting he was better off alone…but in the end, like most adults, the government had refused to see reason. They were almost as thick-headed as his dad had been, and that was saying something. So, he found himself in a new town, with strangers he didn't even know. The only thing he brought with him was the one thing he couldn't bear to be without—his best friend, Toothless.

The black cat by his feet purred again, gazing up at him with green eyes. Right now, it looked harmless. In fact, in this form, Toothless didn't even have teeth. However, Hiccup knew that in an instant, he could become a fierce dragon, capable of fighting against even the strongest of foes. In fact, it was in a battle against this super-powered cat that Hiccup first realized that these animals were no different than the Supers he had heard about from other places. Looking into the green eyes of the trapped dragon, Hiccup found he wasn't able to kill him off. He looked so weak and helpless…just like Hiccup had always been. Then, when Hiccup had dropped his dagger, he was scared half to death by the beast attacking him instead. After a massive roar, Toothless had returned to his harmless form, before running off into the forest to hide.

"Honey, have you seen my car keys?" A voice was yelling from the other room, one which Hiccup was still getting used to. Lucius, his new guardian, seemed to have a bit of a tense relationship with the new mother Hiccup had yet to meet. At first, he had been excited to meet the woman. After losing his mother at birth, Hiccup was thrilled to experience the bonding between himself and a mother this time around. However, that was before he realized what kind of a person this woman was.

The response was as expected. "Car keys? What do you need those for?"

A sigh could barely be heard as Hiccup grabbed his bag, walking out of his room. Toothless tilted his head, looking curious and trying to nudge past him into the living room. Blocking the cat with his leg, Hiccup shook his head and gestured for the cat to stay. "Sorry, Bud, I've gotta go on my own for now. I promise, I'll bring you extra fish tonight if you're good." Glancing around, Hiccup really hoped his room survived this. He didn't want to have to trouble his new family with too many damages because of his friend.

"I need to bring Hiccup to school!"

"Need? You don't _need_ to do anything! You promised we'd go out for breakfast this morning!"

Walking into the other room, Hiccup could see Lucius shaking his head, searching the room for the keys on his own. "We can do that _after_ I bring him to school!"

"After? Are you saying he is more important than your wife?"

"No! I never said that…I just…you know what, never mind!"

"Don't you just ignore me, Lucius! I told you before, I am your wife and we will have an enjoyable morning together, even with that boy of yours in the house!"

"You were the one who wanted kids! I thought you'd be happy about it!"

And so the argument continued. Shaking his head, Hiccup couldn't help but smile, wondering how these two managed to stay together with all of this going on. Walking over to the counter, Hiccup saw the keys gleaming and picked them up. Silently, he tossed them to Lucius, who gave him a grateful smile in return. Patting Hiccup's back, he began walking towards the door.

Once they were outside, Lucius rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Sorry about that…you know how she gets. I'll make sure you get to school on time, kid."

Shrugging, Hiccup only gave him a half-smile. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I've faced bigger monsters than her before." Lucius chuckled in response, getting into the car as Hiccup slid inside the other seat. "It's not like I'm that worried about classes either. I was kinda homeschooled back on Berk…though I can't say much about our educational values. Math'll definitely be a disaster for me, but I think I may at least have the upper hand at history." His home village seemed to have been trapped centuries in the past. Heck, his dad still worshiped Norse gods, and even Hiccup found himself cursing them at times for his misfortunes.

"Well, I'm not the greatest mathematician either." Lucius seemed to frown, before smiling brightly. "Ah, but I've got a few friends with kids of their own. I'm certain Helen would be willing to do me a favor…and if not, Bob could always take a look." He sounded a bit nervous about the idea. "Either way, we'll find a way to make sure you get through it, kid."

It seemed like Lucius avoided using his name. In fact, a lot of people did, often assuming they had misheard him or that it was a joke. Hiccup had gotten used to it, realizing it wasn't all that common in places like this. "I guess I could always ask Toothless, though he's probably more likely to destroy my homework than help me with it."

Laughing Lucius nodded and shook his head. "That's the spirit! You know, I'm rather glad you came to stay with us." There was a slight smile on his face, though Hiccup couldn't meet his eyes. He had only been here for about a month, and while Lucius was nice enough, it still wasn't home. He missed his friends. Even the torment he received by trying to deal with Ruffnut and Tuffnut was worth it in the end, to be around people who actually knew him and the truth about the super animals Berk had labeled as dragons. "I know things have been hard on you…but you've made things a lot better at home for me. My wife and I…we haven't really been able to see eye to eye on many things. Maybe she yells a lot still, but I know she's happier having you around too. Plus, we've got our date nights back."

Uncertain of if things were really better or not, Hiccup only nodded with a slight frown. "Glad to be of service. Now, if we could just keep moving and I'll arrive to the place where I'll eternally be remembered as the guy…whose best friend is a cat." Already seeing his future, Hiccup groaned and pressed his cheek against the window. This was why he had delayed going to school as much as possible. It was bad enough starting part-way through the year. It was even worse having no friends around to back you up while doing just that.

"There's nothing wrong with having a pet, Hiccup." Lucius seemed to search for the words. Then, he smiled, as if proud to have come up with something. "And besides, you had friends back at home, didn't you?" Nodding, Hiccup agreed, though he wasn't sure if he'd call them that. Sure, they respected him after learning the truth about dragons, but most of his friends still beat him up throughout most of his childhood. Even Astrid, his crush, had decided it was best to put the scrawny kid in his place. "So, you can't say Toothless is your only friend. And once they get to know you, I'm sure you'll do great. In fact, there's one girl I know you'll get along with. She's my friends' daughter, the one I was telling you about. Her name's Violet, really sweet girl. Get to know her, I'm sure she'll back you up if you ever get into a tough spot, kid."

"Gee, thanks for the blind date. Subtle, much?" Lucius rolled his eyes, parking the car at the school.

"Nah, she's already got a boyfriend. I'm just saying, everyone can use a good friend when they start out someplace new. It doesn't have to be Violet, I was just hoping to have an excuse to hang out with Bob some more without angering the wife." He gave Hiccup a slight smirk, while the brunette only shook his head.

Grabbing his bag, Hiccup began to climb out of the car. "I'll keep that advice in mind." He spoke dryly, not really taking it to heart. He'd do what he did back home when he was hated. If he spoke as little as possible and made himself almost invisible, he was certain no one would notice his colossal mistakes enough to really make him a target here. "Good luck dealing with her when you get back. I'll see what I can do about getting you that time with your friend." Seeing Lucius give him a wink, Hiccup shook his head and watched the car move to drive off.

Seeing other students already beginning to gather, Hiccup turned around and began walking inside. The building was fairly average, as far as schools went. It was square shaped, made of bricks, and held a sign to give it a name. Everything about it only reminded Hiccup that he was in the world where nothing really extraordinary happened. There would be no new species of dragons to discover, no random fires started because someone's friend had lost control. No massive disaster would come from someone trying to steal someone else's dragon, either. Overall, this place was safe, even with criminals constantly trying to prove they were better than the Supers protecting the city. As a result, it was also boring, and the last place Hiccup Haddock wanted to be in while trying to keep his mind distracted from remembering his father's death.

 **So, I somewhat changed my mind and decided to alter Hiccup's story to some degree. Basically, I'm somewhat merging some aspects of both movies into one...and having it take place in a slightly altered universe. Making it fit into the world of the Incredibles kinda felt weird, but I hope it makes some sort of sense to everyone. My poll is still up, for anyone looking to vote on their favorite stories! Feel free to review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

School was a foreign concept to another girl living in town as well. Rapunzel had grown up, living her entire life under the trickery of a woman she falsely believed to be her mother. Gothel had kept her hidden from the world, insisting that people would harm her for her gifts. She was a super, and her healing ability would be feared and desired by all. Ruffians would try and kidnap her for longer lives, and thugs would try and steal her hair away on a whim. As a result, she had never left her house, until Eugene came along and changed it all.

With a dreamy smile, Rapunzel sat down in the bathroom, still gazing at her reflection in the mirror. Sure, she had gotten out of the situation fine, but in the meantime, she had found her new dream. Her boyfriend Eugene had not only managed to show her the truth about Gothel, but he had also managed to locate her real family. Her actual parents owned a flower shop in town, and they had been searching for their daughter for years before she actually returned. From what she had heard, they would actually put out lanterns in remembrance of her every year, on her birthday. The symbol of their flower shop, a stylized sun, rested on each one and was what had reminded her of the only thing she could recall from being a baby. That very design had been on the ceiling of her room, though that had vanished quite quickly with Gothel's interference.

"Rapunzel, are you almost ready?" Her mother's voice called out down the hall, making her shake her head and blink at her reflection. She still wasn't ready. Her hair wasn't even brushed yet, not to mention braided so other kids wouldn't trip over it at school. This would take forever at this rate. Maybe she should try and put a little bit of a halt on her daydreaming.

Smiling at herself, she quickly began hurrying through the process of brushing her fifty-foot long golden hair. Most people would cut it long before it reached this length, but not her. Rapunzel valued the hair that gave her her gifts, and refused to let anything cut it off. As a result, she had to work to keep it styled in a way that didn't interfere with living her life. First, it had been a group of young girls that showed her how to do it. They had been so eager to style her hair, Rapunzel had been happy to sit down and let them do what they wanted. After finishing her journey with Eugene, she had gone back to those girls, begging them to teach her how to mimic the same style again. It had taken a while to get the hang of it, but now, she could manage a slightly sloppier version of what they had accomplished. No flowers were woven within, but at least her hair could be pulled off of the ground.

From what Rapunzel had gathered, most people weren't all that happy to be going to school. Her neighbor, Tony, talked about how boring classes were, though he thought it was cool to see his friends on occasion. Talking to Eugene made her hear that it was the "worst experience of an angst-ridden teenager's life". Luckily, he was eighteen and graduated, so he didn't have to go through it with her, at least, that was how he explained it. Sighing, Rapunzel still couldn't help but wish he would be in class with her. Learning new things just sounded like an amazing adventure. She heard that there were art classes, and people to talk to, not to mention more than three books to read! The place had a library, so she wouldn't have to constantly reread the same tales over and over. It was going to be amazing!

Eager to get to school, Rapunzel rushed back into her room, glancing at her desk and pausing for a moment. There, she had a small tank that held her life-long pet, Pascal. She hated having to put the chameleon in a cage, but her parents refused to let him roam free. So, for now, he was stuck in a small tank, with a few toys to play with if he got bored. Kneeling down in front of him, Rapunzel smiled. "Can you believe it, Pascal? I'm actually going to a real school!" She squealed slightly, while the chameleon seemed to lift an eyebrow at her. While the creature didn't have actual eyebrows, it did have an odd arch above its eye that functioned similarly. "Do you think the people there'll like me? Oh, what if they hate me? I'm probably going to be exiled for life!" Groaning, Rapunzel flopped onto her bed, resting her arm on her forehead.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly began to peer her eyes open again. Pascal was shaking his head, glaring at her with narrowed eyes. "You're right…I'm probably just exaggerating. They won't hate me…after all, I seemed to get along with Eugene so well. Even if it is my first time, I'm certain I'll make a ton of friends! Oh, do you think any of them love to paint to? And what about singing? Do people get to sing at school, or do you think that'd just make me seem weird?"

Pascal seemed to frown, thinking about it for a moment. Then, the chameleon simple shrugged, walking away and lying down in the tank. Laughing, Rapunzel got back up, grabbing her bag and shaking her head. "You get some sleep, Pascal. I've gotta get going. After all, there's no time to waste if I'm going to get to class on time!" With that, she began running off downstairs, rushing out the door after quickly giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. Snagging a piece of toast off of a waiting plate on the counter, she rushed towards the door. "Sorry, I'm going to be late! I'll be back after school, Mom!"

With a slightly wave, Rapunzel turned and continued her rush out the door. Just in time, the bus arrived for her to run on. Taking a seat, Rapunzel couldn't help but smile back at her house as the bus drove off. Today, things would begin to really change. Maybe her relationship with her parents was new, and they didn't always approve of Eugene, but this was her new dream. All Rapunzel wanted to do was live a normal life, and enjoy going to school like a normal kid. Who cared if she had magic hair? Right now, no one knew about it other than Eugene, and so long as that remained true, she could pretend that she was normal for as long as she wanted to.

* * *

Living with three brothers was bad enough if they were well-behaved kids. Living with Merida's triplet brothers was a nightmare. The boys were constantly going into her room, stealing her things, and trying to eat her desserts. Today, she was done with it. "Mum, the boys have taken my backpack again!" She shouted across the house, walking out of her room with a glare. Normally, she wouldn't care if they were messing with her things. She had gotten used to it, in an odd way. After figuring out that hiding her stuff on the top shelves of her closet wasn't enough to keep them at bay, she settled on just making sure her valuables were kept in her locker at school, where the boys would never get them since they were still in elementary school.

Normally, when the boys took her bag, they were hoping she had stashed away sweets to snack on at school. This time, however, she had expected it to happen. Her most recent project had taken advantage of this, taking care to make sure she had a bag of beautifully frosted, round cookie-like objects inside. However, what she didn't reveal was that those cookies were going to be the nastiest thing those boys ever ate. When she heard a loud gagging noise from the other room, she couldn't help but smile victoriously and rush towards her brothers' shared room. Opening the door, she spotted them all choking and spitting out brown, lumpy food. Underneath all of that frosting was her brothers' least favorite meal, haggis. The shape was close enough to a cookie that with a little effort, she could disguise it as their favorite dessert.

"Ha! I got you, you wee devils. Now, give me back my school bag." Holding her hand out, she waited patiently for them to listen. After sharing a look and turning a glare on her, one of them held it out in surrender. Taking it away, Merida smiled triumphantly and began walking away, only to see her mother standing at the doorway with her arms folded over her chest.

"Merida, what have I told you about yelling in the house?" Her voice was strict, and rather upset.

Groaning, Merida impatiently tried to push past her to leave. "Mum, those boys are driving me insane! How can you expect me to stay quiet when they won't stay out of my room?" Her explanation didn't seem to work on her mother, though. This was why she almost always preferred being at home when Dad was here. At least he gave her some breathing room and freedom. With Mom, it felt like there was someone always breathing down her neck, waiting for her to screw up again.

"Maybe, if you just tried, you could all get along. Honestly, how hard is it to be friends with your brothers, Merida?" She sounded exasperated, still blocking Merida's path out.

"Come on, can't we talk about this later? I've gotta get to school." She tried once more to push past her mother, only for her mother to grab her shoulders and shake her head.

Gesturing to Merida's head, her mother seemed to sigh. "Are you really going to school looking like that? You need to be presentable, Merida. A lady never rushes, and she most certainly does not leave for school without brushing her hair." Glaring at her mother, Merida scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. Her mother never listened, and she never understood that Merida's curly red hair always looked like this, regardless of how much she brushed it. It refused to be tamed, and if it wanted to be wild, she would leave it as such.

Not wanting to start another argument, Merida stomped off to the bathroom, grabbing a brush for the second time that morning and dragging it through her curls. Her hands were rough, and she could feel the strain on her head as she yanked out strands of hair violently with her actions. Wincing when a particularly painful pull ripped out too much, Merida glared at her reflection instead. Behind her, she spotted her mother smiling slightly at her predicament, walking inside and taking the brush from her hand. "Hey!" She shouted, reaching out to grab it back. However, before she could, her mother already began gently brushing her hair, a light smile on her face.

"Sometimes, a gentle touch is needed, Merida. Just relax, let me help you for once." Huffing, Merida crossed her arms over her chest, avoiding looking at the mirror. It was at times like this when she found it hard to stay angry with her mother. As overbearing as she was, there was a kind side to the woman that Merida valued above all else. If she ever needed anything, she knew her mother would be there to help her. "You know, I was just like you once. I hated having to brush my hair too, and I always thought that no one could have as many troubles with it as I did." Narrowing her eyes at her mother's straight, brown locks, Merida had to force herself to stay quiet. "Then, I had you, and I realized I was gravely mistaken." With a slight laugh, her mother ruffled her hair and set down the brush. Rolling her eyes, Merida couldn't help but smile at the joke herself.

"Alright, Mum, I get it. I'll try to take my time tomorrow morning, now can I just get going already? I've got a test today, and I'm going to be late!" With that, her mother nodded, relenting and letting her run out the door. Most people would ride the bus to school, but Merida hated being on the stuffy, hot vehicle with tons of other people. She preferred the freedom of being outside, with the wind rushing through her hair. While her horse wasn't allowed to go to school, she settled for riding her bike instead. Getting on, she grinned as she sped off towards school, eager to see her friends again and forget about her worries at home. At least at school, she could be who she wanted to be without worrying about the pressure her parents put on her. Holding on to their heritage was hard, especially when they seemed insistent on training Merida to be the princess of a clan that had died out long before she was even born.

* * *

After years of silence from Pitch, Jack knew something had to be going on soon. Sure, the Guardians insisted that the guy was normally harmless. In fact, they claimed that they really only fought against Pitch once every few centuries. That didn't stop the uneasiness Jack felt, nor did it comfort him now. Belief was running strong, and more people than ever could see the winter spirit flying through the sky. However, it wasn't the same as it used to be. Just a few days ago, when he went to visit his home town of Burgess, Jack had realized a painful truth. All kids grew up one day, and as they grow up, they forget about important things from their childhood. He had run up to Jaimie, now fifteen, only to find that the kid couldn't hear him anymore.

Having his first believer walk straight through him had been a shocking wake-up call. He had flown of to Tooth, begging her to help, but she had shaken her head at him. She insisted that her powers couldn't help children his age regain their belief. While she could preserve the joy and fun he had as a child, the memories of the Guardians were things that even teeth could not preserve well enough for adults to recall for long.

Heartbroken and feeling alone for the first time in years, Jack had flown off, searching for at least something to do or someone to blame. Pitch was the easiest person to blame, so that was why he was angry with the spirit that had vanished after Easter so many years ago. Avoiding Burgess, Jack was flying through the skies, searching for any sign of the man's intervention in the world. If he saw so much as a single nightmare, he could have proof that Jaimie's loss of belief wasn't his fault. He could get the Guardians to try and help him bring Jaimie back to his side. That was all he really wanted, to be able to make Jaimie smile again with the wonders of his snow. It always made him so happy when Jack visited, even as he continued believing for years after most kids gave up on the Guardians. Jack thought it meant Jaimie would always believe, but maybe he had been wrong.

Shaking his head, Jack glared as he landed in town. The sun was rising, and it was getting close to being too late to search for nightmares. This place was familiar to him, though. Here was the place where human superheroes seemed to exist in abundance. Sure, Supers had spread across the world, but this town seemed to have more of them than anywhere else. He could remember watching over a family of them, even before he became a Guardian. They had two kids, a boy and a girl that had the most entertaining powers ever. The young boy had incredible speed and seemed to constantly try to annoy his older sister with it. However, she was able to stop him in an instant with her forcefields, and then she could also run and hide with her invisibility. As a kid, she had been young and shy, but the moments she fought with her brother, Jack had seen something feisty in those eyes. She was a fighter, and there was a strength in her that would help her push forward in life.

Curious if they were still around, Jack found himself searching for their old house. Glancing in the window, he was disappointed to see someone new inside. Maybe they had moved away. With a sigh, he flipped up onto the roof, walking around with his staff dragging behind him. Seeing the path of frost behind him, he quickly pulled it up with a sheepish grin. "Woops, gotta be careful about that. It's a little bit too early for winter in this town, I think." Considering it was only October, he figured he should hold off for another month or so.

Leaping into the sky, Jack began flying in search of at least something to do while he was here. Supers were the best kids to have snowball fights with. When he had tried with Dash and Violet, the two kids from that family, he had seen some really interesting tricks. Apparently, forcefields made excellent forts to block attacks. Then, the other kid's speed made him nearly impossible to hit. It had taken the intervention of their mother to actually stop that snowball fight from escalating into a war that revealed the kids to the neighbors. Despite the yelling of their parents, Jack thought the game was fun, even if it risked revealing them to the public.

Now, their powers were legal, so he could play with them to his heart's content. Maybe their secret identities were important if they actually did super hero work, but all kids deserved to have a little fun before getting thrown in to a world of fighting criminals and super villains. That was why he was grinning as he searched for young Supers just waking up, getting ready for school. He passed by an apartment building, seeing a young boy with brown hair getting ready in the window. In his arms was a black cat, that, oddly enough, seemed to turn and stare at him with curious green eyes. Ignoring the animal, he moved on, seeing nothing special in there. Last he heard, that was the home of Frozone, the Super with a rather demanding wife. He didn't want to be there to hear another one of those shouting matches, so he'd try and find someone else for his games.

Eventually, he found himself on the outskirts of town. Here, he could see a rather isolated mansion, hidden within a sea of plants that decorated the yard. A pond was man-made, built to give the occupants a view when gazing out the window. Some sides of the house were made entirely of glass, giving Jack a great view of what was inside. It was pristine, clean and organized with white carpets, red chairs and sofas, and even what looked like a control panel on the wall for certain features. "Whoa…this place looks expensive. Better not break anything, otherwise, North'll kill me." Destroying things in North's workshop was one thing, but interfering in the homes of actual people was different. Here, these people would actually have to pay for the damages he did. Luckily, he had good control over his powers, but sometimes, he got a little reckless with his games.

Flying up to a different window, Jack began searching for the people that lived in this place. He couldn't remember if he'd been to this house before or not, but it looked awesome. There was so much space, it had a lot of potential for snowball fights, sledding, and so many other games in the snow. Come winter, he was going to show the people here exactly how fun the snow could be. With a smirk, he flew past another window, only to stop and turn back. He thought he saw something dark in there, something that didn't belong. Flying back, he stopped and pressed his hand against the glass. His eyes widened, not seeing the girl at first. Instead, his gaze was drawn towards the growing black nightmare dancing above her head. Watching over it all in the shadows, Jack could have sworn he spotted a pair of golden, yellow eyes.

Scowling, Jack quickly flew around and found an entrance into the home. Breaking windows kind of broke North's new rules for him, so he had to settle for getting inside using the door. Luckily, they had forgotten to lock the back door, so he got in with little issue. Flying upstairs, he began opening and closing doors, searching for that room again. He spotted the familiar blond hair of the young Super he had played with years ago, but he disregarded the boy quickly. Instead, he opened another door, this time spotting the girl with the nightmare.

Observing her, he frowned in confusion. "Aren't you a little old to be a target for Pitch? I thought he only went after children." Reaching out, he moved to grasp her hand. However, the girl rolled away, mumbling in her sleep and clutching her blanket tightly to her chest. Long black hair seemed to sprawl out behind her, with a hint of purple just visible from her pajamas.

As if from no where, another voice began to speak. "Jack Frost…I knew you'd find a way to interfere, even now." Spinning around, Jack held his staff out, ready to fight.

"Show yourself! I know you're there, Pitch. Where are you? What did you do to Jaimie?" Anger and pain made Jack's chest feel tight. He wanted to destroy him for eliminating that kid's belief. He would do it, no matter what it took.

Laughter was the response, echoing around the room as the shadows on the walls seemed to move. "Jaimie? Why, I haven't seen that child since our last battle. No, I've had far more pressing matters to deal with…starting with suppressing my own fears." The shadow on the wall in front of Jack vanished entirely, reappearing on the wall next to the open door. "Then, I came to a certain epiphany. You Guardians did have a valid point, after all. You will always be there, fighting back against everything I do, protecting those _precious_ children's dreams and wonder. So, I asked myself, if I can't defeat you, how can I gain belief? How can I spread fear into this world, uninterrupted and unbothered by you Guardians? That was when it came to me…the challenge no one has been able to overcome. If I can't have the belief of children, if I can't spread fear to them…then why not make the adults afraid? Why not make them see me, starting with the children who have only just begun to forget about their childhood fantasies? So young, so impressionable…and so much potential for fear."

With that, he seemed to appear just by the bed, reaching out towards Violet. With a snarl, Jack charged forward, ready to blast him with ice, but Pitch raised a finger towards him, shaking it as if reprimanding a child. "Ah ah ah! Can you promise you won't hit the girl, firing at me?" He stroked hair out of Violet's face, making Jack see her clenched teeth clearly. Her arms seemed to tighten their grip even further, and she pulled her legs up and curled into a ball on her bed. "These Supers…they are afraid of so much. Afraid of not being accepted, afraid of failure, afraid of never being able to live a normal life…in a way, I find them to be the perfect target, don't you? So tell me, Jack Frost, Guardian of Childhood, are you going to stop me? It would break the fundamental rules of your group, after all. The Guardians only protect children…and if you stop me, you will take away that protection from a child that may be in need. In fact…I think Jaimie just might be in need of you…right now." With that, he vanished from sight, laughing darkly and fading into the shadows.

Unable to stop himself, Jack ran towards him, only to find his hand colliding with the wall of the room. "Damn it, Pitch! What did you do?" With a grimace, he let his head drop to his chest, breathing deeply. Pitch was right, about all of it. The Guardians weren't supposed to protect adults. Tooth herself even told him that they couldn't try and restore their belief. So, if they couldn't protect these people, how were they going to stop Pitch? Glancing towards the restless girl, Jack ran a hand through his hair. He was never one for following rules, that much he knew. So, maybe just this once, he would try and expand their reach. The others had protected all children for years, so now, it was about time he tried to protect someone else. This girl already went through hell as a kid, having to hide herself away from the world because of a dumb law. He wasn't going to let Pitch take advantage of that, not if he was around to show her a different side of life. All he had to do now was figure out how to do the impossible, and make a teenager believe in myths and legends once more.

 **And a little bit more plot comes in...along with a few more introductions for the characters. Hopefully, this isn't progressing too slowly...this is my first time trying to write a crossover with this many fandoms at once. Not to mention, it is my first time writing for all of them except for ROTG (and Frozen, but I'm still not certain how major of a role that one will play), so if you see anyone that seems OOC, feel free to let me know and advise me on how to fix it. Still working on ideas for the future of this story, so suggestions remain welcome. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

It was unusually cold outside, but for Violet, she wasn't concerned. Right now, she was eating lunch at school, feeling a bit confused by all the new students starting out a month into the school year. Sure, she'd heard the rumors about the one guy from Dad. Apparently, Lucius and his wife had adopted some kid, so he'd be going to school. Hiccup seemed like an odd name, and Violet wondered if she had misheard his introduction or something, but he wasn't the only new kid. Along with him was an eager blond, who seemed way too cheerful to actually be at school. She had spent the entire class looking like she was ready to leap out of her chair and squeal with joy. Needless to say, a few of the other kids found her a bit weird, but glancing towards her now, Violet could see she wasn't alone at least. Merida seemed to have taken a seat by her side, apparently wanting to talk to the girl who loved school so much. Not only was she there, but Violet could also see the sisters, Elsa and Anna joining her at their table.

Anna was always a friendly person, and considering how Rapunzel seemed to be in class, Violet wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be best friends. However, Elsa was far more reserved and was likely only there because Anna had dragged her over. Either way, Violet decided she was better off avoiding those freaks. She already had enough problems without dealing with them, plus, she was kind of hoping Tony would sit with her today. This time, she would make sure she could get to their date. She wouldn't let any criminal stop her from actually having a life this time.

"How can you possibly think that a reindeer is better than actual people?" Hiccup, the new guy, was walking passed Violet while talking to a blond-haired man she had heard much about. That was Kristoff, and normally, he was spending time with Anna. However, right now, he seemed to be getting to know the new kid. The two of them sat down next to Violet, making her stiffen and try and hide her face with her hair. This was not the company she had imagined having for lunch, that was for sure. "Then again…I guess saying that kinda makes me a hypocrite. I'm closer friends with a cat than I am with anyone else…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"See? So admit it, Sven is an awesome pet, even if you haven't met him yet."

"I need proof to admit that. Plus, I've seen some pretty incredible animals before…it's kinda hard to get me to say that about just any animal." He laughed nervously, glancing over and spotting Violet at the table. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there, we weren't bothering you, were we?"

Shaking her head, Violet turned towards him and gave him a slight smile, brushing her hair behind her ear. Her headband seemed to be failing at keeping it back today. "Not at all! I was just…" Sighing, Violet let her eyes scan the crowd of students still finding seats. Tony was among them, now making his way towards her. Unable to stop herself, she smiled brightly and sat up straighter, eager for him to see her in her best light. "Hey, Tony! I was hoping to talk with you today. I just wanted to apologize about last week, my family—"

Shaking his head, Tony gave her a smile. "Don't worry about it, I get family commitments. Sounds like you've got it pretty rough with yours, though. How many times have they suddenly decided to go on a road trip now?" There was a lightness to his tone, but Violet could see the way his eyes had narrowed slightly. Tony wasn't an idiot, and at this rate, he'd figure out her secret in no time.

"Sorry. Look, why don't we just try again? I mean, the movie we went to before was great, but we could totally do something else if you'd like. The sun is still out, so we could try enjoying the park before it gets too cold?" She tried something simple, at least hoping to spend more time with him.

Glancing towards him, Hiccup rolled his eyes. "You call this cold? Try living on an island where it snows nine months out of the year and hails the other three. Never-ending winter was my life back on Berk."

Glancing towards him, Tony lifted an eyebrow. He looked far more interested in this than he did in Violet's offer at the moment. "Really? How did you guys manage with weather like that?"

Shrugging, Hiccup set his fork down to talk instead of eat. "Oh, the usual. Fire, sturdy buildings, constant reinforcement of the insulation on those buildings. Berk is always redesigning things for the better. Despite being around for years, I can say for certain that almost every building in my old town is new." There was a slight glint in his eyes, as if amused by that concept.

"Must have taken a lot of work to pull it off. Anyway, Violet, about the park?" Tony bit his lip slightly, rubbing the back of his head. "As much as I'd love to…I'm getting the feeling that you're just trying to force too much with this. Did I do something to make you…lose interest? I mean, I just can't help but feel that you are doing nothing but making excuses."

With wide eyes, Violet leaned forward and shook her head. "No! You didn't do anything, I really…" Trailing off, Violet bit her lip and wondered what she could say. "I really did have other things going on. It just kinda…happens. My life is pretty hectic, and I lose track of my schedule easily."

"Ouch, at least let the guy down easy if you're not interested." By her side, Kristoff crossed his arms over his chest. "Girls who can't admit the truth really bother me. I mean, Anna? She was open with me from day one, even admitted that she once tried to marry a guy the day she met him. Relationships take that kind of honesty, so I suggest letting your boyfriend, or whatever he is, know what's really going on."

Blushing, Violet avoided his gaze. Today was just turning out to be really weird now. Kristoff never talked to her, and he was normally a bit of an outcast here at school. With his obsession with his pet reindeer, other kids found him kind of weird, plus, he had some kind of hygiene issue and always smelled somewhat like a barn. Getting romantic advice from him didn't really seem like the best idea.

"Well, even with absolute, complete honesty, some relationships just aren't meant to work out." Hiccup glanced towards her, giving her a half-smile. "Back on Berk, I tried my hand at dating too…it turns out that dating in her book translates to torturing me half to death and bragging about how much better she is to me all the time. Now, granted, her ego seemed to go away after time, but I still remember her laughing at me over the most ridiculous things…" He rubbed the back of his head, shrugging.

Staring between the three of them, Tony seemed to have stopped, blinking in surprise. "Uh, maybe I should have brought this up later. Really, this is between Vi and me…no offense, but it just feels weird having all of you trying to tell her what to do right in front of me."

With red cheeks, Violet nodded in agreement. "I completely agree. So, I say we go to the park tonight after school, try and talk this over?" Her eyes pleaded with him, begging Tony to understand.

Glancing away, Tony closed his eyes for a moment. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry…I just can't. These games, whatever it is going on, you clearly don't have the time for an actual relationship right now. Don't get me wrong, I think you're amazing, and you've got this confidence about you that…it really just commands attention. However, I think we're better off with other people…at least, until you are actually ready to spend your time with someone else."

With that, Tony grabbed his tray and began walking away. Another group of friends grinned at him as he joined them, patting his back and laughing at something that was said. Watching them, Violet only felt numb. This was even worse than her nightmare. She really was losing everything, and it was all her fault. "That's what you get for trying to lie to him." Kristoff's smug voice wasn't helping. "See, another prime example of why Sven is better than people. He doesn't try and lie to my face, not when I can tell the only thing he ever really wants is a good, crunchy carrot."

Reaching to grab her tray, Violet decided she didn't want to hear this. She could find a quiet corner of the school to just sit and die now. Her powers were a gift, and she loved helping others, but right now, she wished more than anything else that she didn't have them. She wanted to be normal, to be able to go on dates and hang out with friends. That wasn't her life, though, and it never would be. As she walked past Hiccup, she felt the boy grab her wrist, watching her carefully.

"Don't. Running away won't solve anything…and being by yourself will only make it feel worse. Trust me, I very nearly made that same mistake myself. If I had, a lot of…people would have gotten hurt, or worse." He looked tense, gazing at the table and avoiding her eyes. Something sounded lost in his voice, almost like he felt as alone as she was. The old joking tone was gone, and now, he sounded vulnerable for just a moment.

Staring at the freckles on his face, Violet only just noticed that he kinda looked cute, in a childish way. Taking a seat across from him, she took a deep breath and focused on him. "Alright, I'll bite. So, what did you do to get over your heartbreak with that girl of yours?"

Grinning, Hiccup's face seemed to light up in an instant over whatever memory was in his head. "I went out with my best bud, Toothless. If you're still looking for something to do after school…I guess I could let you meet him."

Leaning forward, Kristoff scowled. "Hey, don't be fooled. Toothless…is a cat. I highly doubt it'll be all that entertaining. If you ask me, I think you'd be cheered up better by hanging out with Anna and myself. We've got a day planned of chocolate tasting and hanging out with Sven."

"Ugh, I think I'll pass on Sven." The idea of being around Kristoff while he talked for his pet just seemed weird. However, Hiccup's cat didn't sound all that more appealing. "Do you have any other suggestions? I mean…I get that you are rather…attached to your pets, but I don't have any of my own. It's really just me and my family at home."

"Right…that kinda defeats the purpose." Hiccup ran a hand through his hair, looking thoughtful once more. "Maybe talk to your family about it? Not that my dad was ever good at giving advice…" He trailed off, his eyes turning distant as he bit his lip. Something haunted flashed in his gaze, but he squeezed his eyes shut as if that would hide his pain from those near him.

Seeing the look on his face, Violet instinctively reached out and grabbed his hand. She gave it a light squeeze, seeing him glance up towards her. "Hey, it doesn't really help either of us if we're both upset, now does it?" Slowly, Hiccup gave her a weak smile and nodded. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories. Tony and I weren't really close…he's just a guy I've liked for a long time now, but everything seems to just keep getting in the way of us being together."

"You call that life getting in the way?" Kristoff scoffed, shaking his head. "I was trying to date a woman…who thought she was engaged! Are you saying that isn't an obstacle in and of itself?"

"Thought? What happened?" Violet was never the type of person to hear rumors around school. Always, her head was stuck in a book, either reading or doodling depending on her mood.

Grinning, Kristoff leaned forward. "The guy was a total jerk. He was just trying to use her to make Elsa jealous…he kinda broke her heart in the end. Luckily, this guy was here to cheer her up, and the rest is history!" He sounded rather proud of himself, though Violet wasn't certain how to feel about any of this.

Unable to help herself, Violet felt a small smile of amusement over Kristoff's joy. At least someone here could be happy with their love life. "That approach is so cliche, it's obvious it would never work. I don't even know who those two are, and I can say with confidence that it is always obvious when someone is faking a relationship." Hiccup rolled his eyes at Kristoff, while Violet raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really? And what makes you so sure of that?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just the fact that every fake relationship always over-exaggerates every little thing. They'll have massive displays of public affection, gush over each other whenever anyone is within earshot, and then they'll try and seal it off with a kiss that looks more pathetic than romantic because of how forced it is." Seeing their blank looks, Hiccup sighed and hung his head. "I had a friend, Snotlout, who was trying to make Astrid, my ex, jealous. He kinda went about it the wrong way. Though, I will give this other guy points for the engagement. Not even Snotlout would go that far back home, especially not when he was using Ruffnut to make her jealous."

Oddly, talking to them was more than enough to make Violet forget about Tony for a moment. Maybe he had a point. She had been crushing on him since they first started high school, and now, they were juniors. It was about time she moved on and realized that she didn't actually know Tony. She only thought he looked handsome, with his brown hair and thinly-built muscles on his body. Sighing, she shook her head to try and banish the thought. She was done daydreaming about Tony; she would reign in these thoughts!

Seeing the guys watching her, Violet blinked and laughed nervously. "Uh, right…so, about meeting that cat of yours? Maybe I could use a friend right now. I can't say I've had much luck making many at school lately." With a small smile, Violet held out her hand. "I don't think I've actually introduced myself to you, either. My name's Violet, and welcome to Chicago."

Taking her hand and shaking it, Hiccup grinned. "Oh, so you're the one Lucius told me about. He kinda mentioned wanting an excuse to hang out with your dad…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, grinning slightly. "Either way, I'm Hiccup, but you probably already knew that from our introductions in class. Can you believe that the teacher actually made me give you guys my full name? That has got to make it far worse than any introduction I've ever given."

Laughing at the slightly rambling nature of his words, Violet couldn't help but smile. "Alright, well class should be starting again soon, but I'll see you after school? If Lucius wants to hang out with Dad, I'm sure they won't mind you bringing Toothless over to our house."

"Ah…maybe. Toothless can get a bit…I don't know, restless? Reckless? Destructive? All I know is that I normally go home to find something broken and wrecked on the floor. I wouldn't want to put your home through that chaos, so it might be best to just leave him at my house."

Shaking her head, Violet rose to her feet, picking up her trey to throw away her garbage. "Well, we're kinda used to damage control at our home. We've got a two year old that can throw some pretty wicked tantrums when he's upset." Thinking about Jack-Jack, she wondered if her Mom had gotten the hang of the repaired detector yet. While the baby had broken the first one, Edna had only been happy to watch the baby again while she developed a replacement. There was some kind of disturbing connection growing there, and Violet was worried about the type of destruction the costume designer had in mind for the baby.

"Well, if you insist. Don't say I didn't warn you, though." With that, Hiccup followed after her, grabbing his bag and moving to leave. Turning the opposite direction out of the cafeteria, Violet found she was slightly disappointed that their next class wasn't together. She would have liked talking to him more, just to see if she could get past that joking exterior he showed the world. One day, she would see the real man behind all of that, to see exactly who Hiccup was and why his eyes looked so sad and alone, despite the smile he constantly wore.

 **It's been a while...and I still have not gotten any new ideas for this story. Hence, this chapter taking place...consisting of little beyond rather pointless conversation between characters. I guess the break-up with Tony is the only think plot-wise that could be much of interest. So, do you guys have any new suggestions on what you want to see? I was thinking of trying to incorporate pairings of some form...but I'm not even sure what I wanted to try. I am a fan of HiJack, but I also considered Violet X Hiccup or even Jack X Hiccup...yeah, very indecisive overall. I may not even do any pairings at all...but without knowing where this is going, I can't make any guarantees thus far. Thank you to the guest that reviewed, it really means a lot hearing that you enjoy this story so far! Feel free to tell me what you guys think!**


	5. Chapter 5

At her locker, Violet was prepared for the end of the day. Her locker rested at the very end of the hallway, just by the door leading outside to the field out back. As she put away the books she wouldn't need back at home, Violet sighed and glanced out the window. Her school had always been terrible with sports, lacking enough players that were skilled on any team. Sure, Dash wanted to join all of them, but he had to hide his powers while playing. So, the result was a weak team of normal kids, but at least people had fun with it. Personally, Violet saw no point to sports. A lot of injuries came about, and people fought for no good reason over rules that had been made up for someone else's entertainment. She would much rather just watch, or even read a book, than go outside and run around on a field.

Practices for most sports were held elsewhere. The school had weird rules about trying to preserve their field. Apparently, something had happened one year with a prank gone wrong that completely destroyed it. After rebuilding, the school decided it was best to just practice in the indoor gym, rather than outside. That was why Violet paused as she stared out the door, seeing someone out on the field today. She walked right passed the goalposts of the football field, heading towards their school's abandoned archery range. After so few people showed up to tryouts last year, the team was gotten rid of, but they had yet to remove the equipment still set up for everyone to use.

Knowing she had plans, Violet decided to be quick about this. She didn't want to let anyone get into trouble, not if she could help it. This person likely didn't know how dangerous it was to play around with weapons like that. Indeed, even from here, Violet could spot the bow in her hands. Pushing the door open, Violet began rushing across the field to stop her as she began to take aim at one of the targets. "Hey, stop!" She shouted out, but the girl didn't seem to hear her. It was as if the girl was in her own world, focused on nothing but the target before her. In that moment, she released her grip on the string, sending the arrow flying for the target. At the same time, Violet arrived to stand right by her side, watching it slide directly into the bullseye.

"Whoa…you're really good at this." Violet glanced at the girl, seeing her blink and turn towards her with wide eyes. "Um, sorry, I was just coming to let you know that it is actually against school rules to be using this equipment. We're supposed to be getting rid of it, now that the archery club has been disbanded…" Violet trailed off, watching the girl scowl and cross her arms over her chest.

"Well, that's not my fault, is it?" She had a heavy accent, and with her fiery red hair, Violet realized she recognized her. This girl had only started this year, though unlike the others, she had joined at the beginning of the school year. "I applied for the club. In fact, I even petitioned to keep it in place. Did they listen to me? No! I'm sick and tired of everyone going around trying to tell me what to do. If I want to shoot some arrows, then I'm going to do exactly that." With a huff, she spun around, eyeing the target again and knocking back another arrow.

"I wasn't trying to say you had to stop…" Violet trailed off, realizing she had technically said exactly that. "Look, I just don't want to see you getting punished. You've got a great gift, it's terrible that they think you have to hide it." Grabbing her arm, Violet felt her head fall forward. She knew the feeling of hiding talents all too well.

Snorting, Merida threw her hair over her shoulder, letting the bow and arrow drop for a moment. "What's it matter to you if I get in trouble? It's not like we're friends or anything. You're just that weak lass that sits in the back with her nose in a book all the time. Unlike me, you're afraid to fight back. Well, I'm not like you, weak and sitting in a corner. I fight for what I believe in, and if you've got a problem with that, then you better tell me to my face."

Giving her a small smile, Violet held out her hand. "Look, why don't we try and start over? My name's Violet Parr, and I'm in English with you. If you'd like, I could try and give you some competition…" She trailed off, biting her lip nervously. This would get her in so much trouble if she was caught, but she hadn't been joking about needing friends earlier. If she had to break some rules to start that, then she would.

Raising an eyebrow, Merida seemed to doubt her ability. Walking over, Violet took the bow and arrow from the girl's hands, realizing at the last second that she really didn't have experience with this kind of thing. Despite fighting criminals, she had never done a thing with archery or weapons of this nature. However, it seemed fairly simple in nature. She had to line up the shot, and then, the distance and force were altered based on how far she pulled back the string.

Taking a deep breath, Violet focused her gaze on the target next to the one Merida had shot. This was going to be a disaster, she could already feel it. Squeezing her eyes shut, Violet let out a slight squeak as she released the string, letting the arrow fly. It went wide, missing the target by a mile and planting itself in the ground. Laughter came from besides her, making her hang her head in defeat. "I guess I'll just leave you alone. Sorry to bother you, I just had a bad day today, and I thought that maybe we could try being friends."

"Wait a second, lass! I'm not angry with you." Merida grinned, holding out her hand. "I'm Merida, and anyone willing to put themselves through that kind of embarrassment to make a friend is a loyal one in my book. If you ever want some pointers in archery, you come find me and I'll show you how it's really done." With a wink, Merida turned her attention back to the targets, continuing her practice. "I'll see you around at school, Violet. Hope your day gets better, I always hate it when I get down in the dumps over pointless things like my brothers, or my mum. Ugh, don't even get me started on what they did to me this morning!" With a deep breath, the girl seemed to calm herself, shaking her head. "Either way, I'm not going to bother you with my problems. Besides, it looks like that lad over there is looking for ya, so you best be off."

Blinking, Violet turned around to the school, spotting Hiccup watching them from the door. He waved when Violet glanced towards him, and she felt a small amount of heat in her cheeks. Had he seen her poor attempt at archery? Hopefully not, but she supposed it wasn't' the worst thing that could happen. It wasn't like he had seen her super powers or anything. "Thanks. And sorry about earlier, Merida. I really didn't mean to try and tell you what to do."

Smiling, Merida nodded and turned back to aiming her next shot. Moving away, Violet walked towards Hiccup and smiled, brushing aside another stray strand of hair. "Sorry, I kinda got distracted. Merida has some real talent with a bow, apparently."

Watching her, Hiccup shrugged and pulled the door open. "Yeah, I get it. I thought I heard the archery club was disbanded, though?"

"It is. She's…a bit of a rebel, to say the least. Merida's always had a lot of the courage I lack, and in a way, I've admired her for it since she started going to school here. Today was the first day I actually talked to her, though." She gave Hiccup a half-smile, moving through the halls towards the front of the school. Other students were still clearing out their things, talking with friends as they lingered in halls.

"I know a thing or two about rule-breaking. Typically, it involves doing something stupid…and in my case, something that's probably insane. But, everything turned out fine in the end, so who am I to complain?" Uncertain about what he was talking about, Violet only nodded.

Walking outside, Hiccup began moving towards one of the cars. Glancing towards Hiccup, Violet bit her lip slightly, watching him pull the door open and glance back at her. "So…would you mind telling me a bit about all of what happened? It sounds like there's a bit of a story in there somewhere." She tried to prompt him for something, though it seemed like he was hesitant to reply. Getting in the backseat, Violet smiled and waved towards Lucius who was driving. "Hey, Lucius. Sorry to bother you, Hiccup invited me over to meet his cat. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure thing, Vi. Any one of you kids is welcome to stop by whenever you want." He gave her a smile as he began pulling away, while Hiccup still seemed to be lost in thought.

After a moment, the guy let out a sigh, shaking his head and turning over the seat to glance back at her. "I guess I kinda walked into that one, didn't I? Normally…I don't really like talking about home. Too many memories of my family back there…most of them not so good, but still memories of people who became my friends eventually." He sounded a bit tense, rubbing the back of his head. "See, I always had a bit of a more…creative mindset than the others. People on Berk value strength. They like being big and muscular, strong enough to shatter boulders with a single headbutt."

Raising an eyebrow at him, Violet crossed her arms over her chest. Despite her father's abilities, even she knew how unlikely such a thing would be. "I highly doubt anyone succeeded with that one, Hiccup."

"Oh, but they did. Believe it or not, Berk was home to some pretty vicious people. And their favorite pastime…well, it was something I could never get into that much." He seemed to pause for a moment, frowning as he gazed out the window. "I tried so hard. All I wanted to do was fit in, but I always messed it up somehow. See, they all liked…hunting." Violet noticed the pause, but didn't question it as Hiccup continued on. "I was always too loud when we walked, or I'd be off with my aim when trying to hit our quarry. Sometimes, I'd hit other people, or even break buildings with my shots. Yeah, it was always a disaster when I was involved…but I at least tried."

There was a pain in his voice, thinly disguised as he tried to turn his past into a joke. Thinking back, Violet could remember making plenty of her own mistakes too. Fighting with Dash during battles often lead to distraction that could get a lot of people hurt. Heck, even forgetting to keep a close eye on Jack-Jack could result in disaster these days. That baby was far more trouble than anyone in their family ever imagined he'd be. "If you don't want to talk about it…I understand. You don't have to tell me everything about growing up back then, I was just kinda curious about this crazy plan of yours."

Chuckling, Hiccup shook his head slightly. "Yeah, but it does kinda relate to a bit of how I grew up in a way. See, my plan was to get everyone to stop the hunting…to realize that those animals had feelings too. Toothless was actually what started it all…an animal I found and tamed. I tried using him to show my dad that they weren't as mindless as we thought…but he only got angry and tried going off on his own again." He rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair. "In the end, I got a few of my friends together with me to help show them the truth. That story gets long and complicated, though, so trust me, you do not want to have to sit around listening to it."

"So, Toothless was a wild cat when you first met him?" Violet couldn't help but picture a panther or tiger in her mind now. Somehow, Toothless didn't sound like the right name for such an animal, though.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Hiccup nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. He was all alone, the only one of his kind on our island. Berk didn't really have many cats, sheep and dogs were actually a lot more common." He seemed to pause for a moment, thinking back. "And having a pet sheep just seemed weird, even on an isolated island living in the stone age. I mean, seriously, what is entertaining about watching an animal eat grass? Cats are far more entertaining. In fact, that's why I think the world makes so many videos about them to post online."

Laughing, Violet shook her head and couldn't help but smile. "So, what made you choose to go from… _that_ to Chicago? I mean, this place has got to be massively different from a place that doesn't even have the internet yet." From what she had heard thus far, Berk really was underdeveloped in terms of technology.

Hiccup's smile vanished and his back stiffened. From where she sat, Violet began to wonder if she had said something wrong. Nothing seemed unusual about her question, though. By his side, Lucius seemed to pat his back, giving the kid a small smile as he turned to keep his focus on the road. "Hiccup lost his father, Violet. The man died after being mauled by a wild animal. With no one left to take him in, he ended up being forced into adoption…and ultimately, he ended up with me and my wife."

Gasping, Violet's hand lifted to cover her mouth. She couldn't believe she had just carelessly asked him about that. Of course he didn't want to leave, not with how much he clearly missed Berk. Heck, she was probably just an irritation to him in this town. All of his smiles and invitations were just Hiccup being nice, because he was a nice boy. The guy just felt sorry for her because of what Tony said to her at lunch. It was her fault for seeing more into it, for imagining that they were actually becoming friends or something. Letting her head turn towards the window, Violet kept her mouth shut this time. She wouldn't make things worse for this guy, not anymore. After meeting Toothless, she'd let him take the time he needed to figure out what he really wanted to be doing in this town.

With the uncomfortable silence in the car, Violet didn't expect anyone to try and speak until they got to Lucius' house. However, Hiccup seemed to clear his throat uncomfortable, shifting in his seat. "So…uh, yeah. Got any homework today, Violet?" He seemed to be grasping at straws for something to talk about, clearing his throat again when she blinked at the back of his seat in surprise.

"Uh…I guess. Just a bit of pre-calc, though it's probably nothing that interesting to you. I still don't really know what I want to go into when I grow up, so I figure I might as well try and get as much of a head start as possible." If she took AP calc next year, that would give her college credit and pretty much take care of basic math requirements for almost any degree she wanted. Violet had been debating trying to go into nursing, actually, since it was a way to keep helping people even without her mask on. While heavy math wasn't necessary for the job, she was certain it wouldn't hurt to have some understanding of it just in case.

Blinking, Hiccup grinned and turned towards her. "Not interesting? You're talking to a guy who's dreamed of being involved in some kind of engineering since he was twelve. After being an apprentice to a blacksmith, I kind of got a knack for assembling and creating quite a few tools…though they were a bit outdated. Part of me is wondering if I should actually try to get into computer design. At least with that, I'd be able to keep creating new things, rather than just putting together things from blueprints. For anything like that, math is just the start of what I need to know to move forward."

Feeling uncertain about the new flow of conversation, Violet frowned as she slowly replied. "Yeah…well, I guess you are pretty good with science, too? I've always been more into English, but my second best class is biology, if that helps."

"Well, it sounds like you and I are going to get along well. I'm a bit ahead in the math department…my homeschooling didn't exactly give me much in terms of English skills…or actual science skills, but learning how to design weapons for my town definitely got me a lot of hands-on training for physics and math. A lot of my time this afternoon was actually spent taking placement tests as a result…hopefully, I'll have the results tomorrow to see what it is I have to be taking in the first place."

Uncertain of how educated Hiccup could actually be after coming from such a barbaric home town, Violet smiled nervously and placed her hands in her lap. "Well, if you end up needing any help, feel free to let me know. I'd be happy to tutor you or something if you need it…though I guess I can't exactly guarantee my schedule will remain constant these days. My family is…pretty crazy, to say the least." She gave off a nervous laugh, uncertain what else she could say to explain her constant last-second changes in plans.

"You have a crazy family? My dad named me Hiccup…so that my name would be so ridiculous that gnomes and trolls would be too afraid of coming after me." Laughing, Violet realized she actually couldn't top that one.

Then again, she supposed she just might be able to, if she explained all about their superpowers. Secret identities managed to kill friendships and destroy jokes, she realized. Sighing, Violet glanced out the window, seeing Lucius pull up to the apartment building with them in tow. "I guess I can't complain about Violet anymore. Being named after a color isn't so bad…but it also kinda stands out a bit. Kids used to tease me about it, trying to force me to wear purple just so my name would make sense in some way."

In a way, that was when her shyness had started. Even in elementary school, Violet knew she was different. She had super powers, ones which her parents had forbidden her from using at all. Growing up with a secret like that already made her feel uncomfortable around others. Adding in the fact that she didn't fit in made it worse. While most kids really only meant it as harmless teasing, hearing people insist her name was stupid had stung. She realized that if people didn't like how she talked or looked, they wouldn't be her friend. If no one would like her for her, then she had decided that there was no point in actually having friends.

"If it makes you feel any better, there are a ton of kids back on Berk with terrible names. Mine is actually not the worst, when you think about it. I believe I mentioned Snotlout before…I had another friend named Fishlegs too. The ridiculous things parents come up with when trying to scare away trolls who only want to steal your socks…" Hiccup shook his head, getting out of the car and grinning over at her. Following after him, she began walking inside towards the apartment.

Inside, she followed Lucius upstairs, already familiar with where he lived from the times Dad dropped her and Dash off for babysitting. "Look, I get that Berk was where you grew up, but honestly? The more I hear about this place, the more I wonder about why I've never heard about this ridiculous town. I just might try and go there myself, just to see if any of these trolls actually exist."

"Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up. Gobber says they really do exist, but personally, I haven't seen any proof." Opening the door, Hiccup walked inside with Violet following after.

"Lucius, is that you?"

The shout came from somewhere across the hall, making Violet glance towards Hiccup. The other boy seemed to wince slightly, glancing towards Lucius and sighing. "Come on, let's get out of here before the real shouting match begins." Reaching out, he grabbed her wrist and began dragging her along. Startled, Violet let him pull her through the halls, staring like an idiot at his hand. She thought he was angry with her for bringing up his past. Was she wrong? Did he actually want to be her friend? Frowning, Violet wondered if maybe she should just stick to her house. Living without friends was so much less confusing, especially when those friends were boys.

Walking into a new room, Hiccup closed the door to muffle the return shout of Lucius. "Toothless? Where are you, bud?" Hiccup glanced around, frowning as he moved around his room. Inside, Violet observed things quietly. It looked rather plain, with a simple bed covered in a blue blanket and white pillows. It hadn't been made this morning, but Violet didn't really focus too much on it. Along the walls was what caught her attention. Decorating almost every inch of the walls were hand-drawn sketches of amazing creatures. They looked like real-life dragons, brought to life with an artistic and detailed hand. Some seemed to have notes written along the borders in strange lettering, though Violet didn't even try reading whatever language it was. Instead, she moved along, only to bump into the desk resting alongside the wall next to the bed.

Glancing down, she could see various pencils and pens scattered on the surface. Papers were scattered as well, some crumpled up with poor ideas and others only partially finished. Picking out a few, she could see sketches of what looked like wings and tails, as if Hiccup was looking into trying to develop something that could actually allow a person to fly. Whatever his inspiration was, they looked amazing already, and they weren't even finished. Maybe he really wasn't kidding about wanting to be involved in inventing things. He really did have a talent for it, from what she could see.

"Toothless?" Hiccup crouched down by his bed, lifting the covers with a frown. "That's weird…the window's closed and nothing is destroyed. Where could he have gone?" He glanced around, staring at the empty room before running a hand through his hair. "Oh no…I really hope he didn't get out again. In this town…oh boy, this isn't going to be good." Hiccup rose to his feet, sighing and shaking his head. "I really hate to do this…but I think I've gotta go looking for him now. I'm not kidding about how insane this cat can get on his own…and if he's gotten out of the house, things will likely not turn out too well when he's found. He doesn't really like strangers that much."

Violet was tempted to ask why Hiccup brought her along to meet him, but decided against it. Seeing the way he continued glancing around the room frantically, she felt a slight warmth in her chest. This pet really was special to him, in a way she realized few things were. "Hey, it'll be okay." She reached out, gently touching his shoulder with a small smile. "Here, why don't I help you? You only just moved here, but I know this town pretty well. Plus, my family could help you out too. I'm certain we'll find your cat in no time with all of us looking out for him."

Biting his cheek, Hiccup seemed to wait for a moment before shaking his head. "No…that's probably not the best idea. Like I said, he really doesn't do well with meeting new people…but I guess one more set of hands wouldn't hurt. As long as we don't drag too many people into the search, I think it'll be okay if it's just you. After spending so much time today with me…Toothless will likely pick up my scent on you and at least be a little bit calmer if you approach him."

Uncertain of how sensitive a cat's nose actually was, Violet only nodded in agreement. "Alright, just me then. So, you have any ideas of where to start?" With that, Hiccup nodded and began moving back towards the exit of the room. Uncertain of what the search would entail, Violet was prepared to face a rather angry and violent cat. As Hiccup described the things Toothless liked (fish, some strange type of grass, lights), Violet listened and tried to imagine a place such a cat would go. Deciding it was best to at least keep moving, they started walking out into the streets in search of a lost black cat.

 **Okay...it has been almost a year since I've updated here, so I figured it was probably time to sit down and focus on this story for a change. Classes kept me busy, along with all of the other stories I decided to write at once. Hopefully, I've got somewhat of a plan to finish it out. Either way, there is at least a little bit more going on now. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

All day long, Jack Frost had been following that girl around. However, he realized fairly early on that school was definitely not for him. Sitting around in a classroom listening to some teacher drone on about polar coordinates only made Jack that much more eager to start a snowball fight. He had left not long after lunch, realizing that if he stayed any longer, he just might give into that temptation and break a few of the rules set down for him by the Guardians. Basically, Jack had to wait until at least November to bring any snow to this area.

Without the ability to bring snow around here, Jack was struggling with thinking of something to show Violet he was here. All day long, she seemed to be in a dark mood. She looked ready to fall asleep in class, and then at lunch, some weird guy just had to make it all worse. Luckily, the new kid, Hiccup, had been there to cheer her up. If only he knew exactly how much she needed that right now, especially if she was a target for Pitch Black.

Flying around town, Jack realized that maybe he had overreacted last night. While he had managed to hold himself back from flying straight to Jaimie, he probably shouldn't have taken it upon himself to spy on some teenager like a creepy stalker. Granted, he was invisible to the girl, but that didn't make it any less creepy. He highly doubted the girl wanted him seeing her freaking out over her dream, watching her every argument with her brother, and watching each and every class she had at school along with every conversation she had. Knowing absolutely everything about Violet Parr was just making him feel kinda obsessed and frankly, he didn't want to explain how he knew so much about her once she finally could see him.

Back in the main city, Jack could see traffic just beginning to pick up. Big cities like this seemed to really get clogged with cars at times. Right now, at least they were still moving, but Jack had ended up playing a game or two with kids in the backseat, waiting for their parents to keep driving forward. A bit of frost and some tracing later, then the kid would be smiling and laughing despite their boring car ride. Unfortunately, parents had kinda ruined that one for him by yelling at kids for playing with Jack and writing on the window.

Flying past a tall apartment building, Jack figured he was getting close to outside town. With the way this one was set up, the main attractions were surrounded by the living area for most people. However, as he flew by, he heard an odd scratching noise. Stopping, he turned around and frowned at the sight. Looking directly at him was a black cat, with wide green eyes. As Jack stared back, he could have sworn the cat actually smiled at him. However, that smile wasn't exactly…happy looking. A cat's face was definitely not made for such an expression, that was something he was certain of in that moment.

Flying over, Jack tilted his head slightly and pressed his palm to the glass. "Hey, kitty. Can you actually see me?" Jack didn't have much experience with animals. Normally, he tried interacting with kids, so he wasn't entirely certain if the same rules applied to animals. If so, he had no idea what he did to get a cat to believe in the existence of Jack Frost. Maybe there was something more to it than he first thought, or this cat had some really weird instincts that showed him where Jack was. Either way, as the cat followed Jack's waving hand, he couldn't help but grin at the creature.

"This is freaking awesome…not only am I going to get a teenager to believe in me, but it looks like I'm also the first Guardian with a feline believer." Smiling, he pulled back and left a small pattern of frost on the window for the creature. He had been planning on leaving it at that, but apparently, the cat was eager to play some more. His ears flattened against his head when Jack turned to leave, and his smile had vanished. After studying him closely, the creature seemed to hunch down on all fours, crouching with its eyes closed in deep focus. Then, an odd puff of smoke seemed to fill the room, making Jack glance back in fear of a fire. However, when the smoke faded away, standing in the place of the cat was a scaled, black dragon.

This one gave Jack the same weird smile as the cat, with its tail swishing around behind him. It pushed forward, reaching out towards the window eagerly. "Uh…I don't think you'll fit like that." He tried for logic, and surprisingly, the dragon looked like it understood. The same process occurred a second time, though this time, a cat reappeared in the room. "Holy…you really are something, aren't you?" Glancing around, Jack bit his lip nervously. Really, this probably wasn't the best idea. However, the idea of actually racing a creature like this was so tempting. Not only could he race the dragon, but he could probably try and teach it aerial tricks and start a snowball fight in the sky. Now that sounded like fun.

Deciding that it wouldn't hurt anything too much, Jack reached forward and pulled open the window. He could always close it again later, after he had returned the cat to its home. Making note of where he was, Jack took the creature in his arms, shutting the window as the cat purred slightly. That lasted for about a second until Jack's entire vision was clouded by a burst of smoke. Coughing on the weird power, Jack flew backward and tried to see through the haze as the smoke dissipated. When it did, Jack was facing a flying dragon, though he only managed to stay airborne for a few seconds. For some reason, the creature gave out a startled yelp and began falling to the ground almost instantly.

Surprised, Jack flew forward after it on instinct. He had no clue about how this thing could fly, but clearly, it needed some kind of assistance. Studying it, Jack could see the massive wings flapping around, which should have been able to keep it in the sky. However, strapped around its back appeared to be a saddle as well, one that had vanished with its transformation. Searching for more, Jack spotted an odd mechanism leading towards its tail, which had one end flapping around loosely in the air. "Well, it looks like you can't fly without a little help, now can you?" With a grin, Jack flew down and grabbed the tail with his hand, pulling it open and allowing the creature to regain control.

As they neared the ground, Jack glanced over and blinked into the eyes of a kid riding a tricycle. In his hand was a strawberry ice cream cone, and for a moment, things seemed to slow down as his jaw dropped and he stared at the two with wide eyes. Then, he released his cone and threw his arms into the air as Toothless angled himself upward, beginning to fly back into the sky. "You're Jack Frost! That movie you were in was totally wicked!"

Unsure about what the kid was referring to, Jack only gave him a wave, using his elbow to keep his staff tucked against his body. However, he quickly returned his focus to realizing that Toothless wasn't exactly turning at all. He glanced down at his hands, seeing the muscles on the dragon's tail moving slightly. The natural half of his tail seemed to be trying to twist and make a new form, making Jack blink with wide eyes. "Hold on a second…animals need tails to fly?" Glancing up, he saw the dragon turn back and give him a light growl as he stared over his shoulder at Jack.

Holding up a hand in surrender, Jack began twisting the thing in his hand, feeling his body get jerked to the side as the dragon's flight was altered. However, he quickly learned that there was a lot more to flying on a dragon than there was to riding the wind. As they got closer to the edge of the city, the dragon seemed to want to try and show off. He picked up some speed, practically smirking at Jack as he approached what little remained of nature outside of the city. A cluster of trees was slowly approaching, and Jack gulped as he realized the dragon was refusing to fly higher and avoid them. "Come on, you stupid thing, we're going to crash!" He tried yanking on the tail fin, only to realize it had little effect on elevation. However, when he twisted it, the dragon took a sharp turn towards the side, nearly making Jack loose his grip and fall.

With a slight yelp, he saw the dragon growl back at him, smacking him again with his tail. Jerking his head slightly, the dragon tried to gesture for him to move forward. "Uh…if I sit there, it kinda makes it hard to keep you in the sky." Growling, the dragon seemed to sound angry in response. Sighing, Jack decided that maybe he shouldn't anger the massive flying lizard he was riding. At least he was technically immortal, so while falling may hurt, he wasn't going to die over it.

Climbing over the dragon's back, he noticed very quickly that they began getting even closer to the ground. However, as he sat down in the saddle on the creature's back, he finally noticed the odd footholds resting on its sides. One looked normal, and it was easy for Jack to slide his foot inside. However, the other one was clearly designed for some type of machine. It was practically impossible to put his foot inside, and as he stared at the weird wires attached, he realized that this was how the animal's real rider actually controlled flight. "Uh oh. This might be a problem. I don't think I have the tool necessary to use this…" He trailed off, seeing the dragon almost look at him condescendingly. How a dragon's face could be so expressive was a mystery to Jack, but that thought was lost as the creature's eyes flickered over towards his staff, then back to him with a slight huff.

Blinking, Jack bit his lip, hoping the wood was strong enough for this. It hurt when his staff broke during the fight with Pitch, and breaking it now likely wouldn't be any different. That sharp stabbing pain in his stomach was not something he wanted to experience again, so as he pressed the wood into the oddly shaped foothold, Jack was careful not to push it in too hard. Angling it so it could twist without falling out, Jack pushed on the wood like a lever, feeling the resistance as wires tightened and pulled at the cloth attached to the dragon's tail. Quickly, it straightened, allowing the dragon to correct its flight and swoop into the sky once more.

"This is so awesome…I don't think I've seen many guys like you around here." Smiling, Jack got comfortable on the dragon's back, not really caring about keeping himself balanced with his hands. The wind would take care of that for him, so he sat straight up, gazing down at the ground below. Now that he thought about it, Jack realized that he normally only saw animals like this near some remote northern islands near North's workshop. There, the cold weather kind of interfered with a lot of technology. He couldn't remember anyone on those islands trying to stay in touch with the world, and most of them developed some pretty interesting cultures. In those areas, Jack found some kids calling him some really weird variations on his name. Actually, some had called him a god. It felt kinda weird being referred to as such, but now that he glanced down at the dragon he was riding, he wondered if this creature had come from one of those islands.

Tilting his head, Jack pressed his hand against the smooth scales on the dragon's back. "Is that why you see me? Seriously, what is it with people equating magic to gods? I am just a spirit trying to have a little fun." Shaking his head, Jack heard the creature snort in response. Chuckling, Jack smiled and shook his head, pressing against his staff again as he began to start figuring out how these controls worked. Essentially, the footrest could lock in various positions, altering the angle of the tail fin and allowing for control over the dragon's flight path.

"At least you don't think I'm a god. Actually…I don't think you really respect me much at all." That seemed to make the dragon let out a rather weird chortling noise, which made Jack assume he was correct. "I guess you were just curious or something? I imagine you don't get treated well with your size. A lot of people in those islands tried hunting you guys, didn't they?" He couldn't remember many accepting them as anything more than monsters.

The dragon went quiet, flying straight for a moment with the wind rushing by both of them. Sighing, Jack glanced back towards town, frowning slightly. "This town has got some real problems starting in it. I really don't know what to do about it…but can I count on you to help me figure something out? You seem like a smart…dragon, cat, whatever you are. I need…I need to get people to see me. That way, I can warn them…no, that won't work." Simply knowing Pitch was coming hadn't exactly stopped him from fighting against those kids in Burgess. "Maybe I just need to bring them an early winter. Would you like that? I bet that chill is a lot more comfortable and familiar to you than the heat of summer, or even this mild warmth that comes with fall."

Flicking his head back, Jack felt the odd ears smack against his wrist sharply. The sting made him pull his hand back, frowning at the dragon who narrowed his eyes. "Right, sorry. Not time yet, I guess you're right. So, how am I supposed to gain belief without winter? This just doesn't make any sense, I'm the spirit of winter for crying out loud!" With a sigh, he leaned back, letting his legs dangle over the dragon's side as he lied down on the creature's back. For most people, the motion would result in falling off fairly quickly, but once again, the wind helped Jack stay on.

"I guess I'm not going to figure it out in this place. You already believe in me, so I don't really have anyone to test any theories on." He rubbed the dragons side gently, not noticing the way the dragon seemed to relax at his touch. "Don't know what I did to make you trust me, either. Do I smell like a friendly guy to you? Or do dragons have some kind of natural instinct that tells them to trust Guardians? Either way, I'm kinda glad you're here. Maybe you look like an animal, but you are a great listener. I really needed to talk to someone after the day I've had."

His mind went to Jaimie almost immediately, frowning as a heavy weight settled into his chest. The brunette was in high school now, still best friends with Cupcake and Caleb. Unfortunately, Pippa and Clyde had moved away a few years back, but the other kids remained close. Jack had been there for Jaimie when the teasing began over the kid still believing in fairy tales. He had been there to help Jaimie see that no matter what anyone said, the Guardians would always be there for him. He made the kid laugh, gave him snow days, and they went on adventures together throughout town. Really, the more Jack thought about it, the more he realized that Jaimie was more than just his first believer. The kid had become his best friend…and now, all of that was just…gone. Jaimie didn't even remember his existence, and when Jack was in town, the kid would just walk straight through him.

Closing his eyes, Jack could feel them burning with the desire to release tears. He hadn't cried since the time he thought Sandy was dead, and the thought made him grimace slightly. "Yeah, definitely needed to talk. I kinda lost my best friend recently…and in this town, I'm practically nonexistent. Sure, a few of the younger kids know I'm around…but it's kinda hard to play with them. At that age, there are way too many dangers with snowball fights. Their bodies are too weak to be out in the cold for long."

The flight seemed to have smoothed out, as if the dragon thought a calm flight would make things better. He glided through the sky, turning after a few moments to head back towards town. "Now that I'm back…part of me really wants to get this girl to see me. She's amazing. She has super powers, and she has this…this confidence in her that she somehow manages to hide from the world. No one seems to understand how strong she is, despite the fact that she is a superhero who fights crime. Oops…I probably wasn't supposed to reveal that fact…" Jack rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

The dragon glanced back at him over his shoulder, warily watching as Jack smiled slightly at the memory of watching Violet. "Despite being targeted by Pitch…despite losing the guy she liked, she kept on smiling. That takes strength, trust me. You haven't seen what happens to kids after Pitch's nightmares come…the sight is rather depressing, to say the least. Not only did she fight back against it with a smile, but she kept moving forward! If someone like her could see me…maybe she'd know what to do." Staring at his hand, Jack closed it into a fist with a frown. "The Guardians say we aren't supposed to protect children who don't believe…and that extends to adults too. She isn't my job to protect…but I kinda want to help her. If she could just see me, I could make sure she knows that these dreams aren't her fault…that none of this is."

He knew how hard it was to stay hidden from the world. That girl suffered more than she realized, having to hide her powers from her classmates. At least she could actually talk to them, but that would only get her so far. It would be like Jack trying to talk to Jaimie that first time while hiding the fact that he had been the one to make it snow in the kid's room. Not only would he end up invisible again if he lied like that, the kid would have probably lost all hope in believing in the Guardians too. Lies like that weren't good for anyone involved, despite looking like it protected the innocent from the danger of knowing a superhero's identity.

One of the dragon's ears twitched as they neared town, and his pace picked up. Feeling the change, Jack sat up and frowned, glancing around at their surroundings. He had lost track of time, flying with the creature and talking endlessly. Right now, school should be getting out and Violet would probably be free to follow some more. "So…still no suggestions, huh? Guess I really am on my own…unless I actually want to anger the Guardians again by breaking their rules."

So far, he hadn't been caught. That was the key, he had learned, to doing this job. If he was going to break their rules, he had to be discrete about it. Unseasonable snow had to come during times when it was already naturally freezing outside, despite the usually warmer months. Stealing a few toys from North's workshop had to happen when the elves were overseeing things, not the yetis. Most importantly, he had to avoid Bunny's Warren at all costs, because any trips there would result in a lot of broken eggs and a grudge from Bunny that would last for decades.

Going to them and telling them he was breaking their rules didn't sound like fun. "Pitch…I guess I didn't really tell you who he was, did I? He's kinda our enemy. Kinda creepy, enjoys fear, wears dark black robes…and to top it all off, incredibly annoying. This time, he plans on simply avoiding conflict with the Guardians by targeting adults…but that doesn't make him right. Maybe fear is okay, but letting it control their lives…that's just wrong." He had learned what fear did in excessive amounts. It made you doubt yourself and question your actions. It made people run away from the things they were supposed to do. Overall, it forced him to abandon his job and the purpose he was chosen for by the moon.

He heard a shout from the streets, making him wonder if they had been spotted. The dragon's tail seemed to swish back and forth at the sound, making Jack frown for a moment. That lasted for seconds before the creature instantly angled downwards, taking off at a speeding rate towards the ground. Feeling his body get jerked forward, Jack sat up and blinked at he approaching sight of the ground. "Uh, Dragon? I think you might want to…slow down?" Unfortunately, the dragon didn't listen. As Jack stared out in front of him, he braced himself for a crash. However, his eyes widened at he sight of Violet right in the path of the crashing dragon, making him tense and prepare to take off. He might survive this, but that girl couldn't use her powers in public like this. Shaking his head at the dragon's antics, Jack took off towards her, only hoping he could get to her before a speeding dragon.

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

Searching for Hiccup's cat was supposed to be uneventful. Walking through streets, describing a black furred cat with green eyes, having strangers shake their heads and say they hadn't seen him, all of that seemed normal. Violet expected problems like that, especially when Hiccup emphasized how small the cat was with his gestures. In fact, he even told her he was probably digging around in some dumpster nearby, where someone had happened to throw away their fish from lunch. Uncertain of where to find such a dumpster, however, Violet and Hiccup had wandered a ways away from Lucius' apartment. Right now, they were actually walking down the streets of the suburbs, seeing houses and knocking on doors for information.

As they walked, she noticed Hiccup had constantly been glancing upward at the clouds. Violet thought it was a bit weird, all things considered. It was a clear day, and there was no sign of rain, so why was he worried? Part of her figured she had better things to focus on, so she had written it off. Now, she was regretting not asking about that habit earlier. Then again, it probably wouldn't have helped either way, because surely, Hiccup had no idea that _this_ was in town.

Violet was frozen with wide eyes as she stared at a massive black reptile hurling down from the sky, heading straight towards her. Standing next to Hiccup, she figured it would stop. The thing had wings, so obviously it had some control, but no, it seemed to actually _want_ to hit them. In fact, it looked like it was giving them a creepy grin, revealing a mouth devoid of teeth. Holding her hands in front of her, Violet nearly created a forcefield to at least lessen the blow, before stopping, glancing back at Hiccup. He seemed to be taking a few slow steps backward, cringing slightly at the sight of the animal flying towards them. Right now, she couldn't use her powers, not with him here. That meant that no matter what happened, she had to figure out a different way out of this, without her powers.

Groaning, Violet once again cursed the secrecy behind being a superhero. Glancing around, she tried to quickly find someplace to hide, only to fail to see anything of use. Houses would just get other people hurt, and it wasn't like she was small enough to fit inside a trash can anymore. Likely, she would only get hurt when the beast attacked it anyway, so it wouldn't have much of an effect. Instead, she crouched, bracing herself for impact and hoping it wouldn't hurt too much. "Oh, come on! First you kidnap Astrid, and now this? What is with you every time you meet one of my female friends?" Hiccup's shout made her blink as he seemed to wave at the beast in annoyance, shaking his head and hiding his face behind his palm.

Her head turned towards him, the only pause she had before something cold and wet collided with her side. She went flying towards someone's yard, grunting as she landed on her arm, bruising it. Dragging it along the grass, she scowled at the sight of the now-stained pink blouse she had been wearing. This one had been one of her favorites, too, and now it was ruined. However, her anger at that was slowly replaced by confusion as she noticed what had pushed her out of the way. Surely, there wasn't a small pile of snow beginning to melt on her arm. There wasn't anything weird about the frozen liquid coming from no where, on a clear day, in October.

Glancing around, she tried to spot Frozone nearby. At least that would explain one of the crazy things going on right now. However, she saw no such thing. In fact, the only thing she could see was Hiccup, pinned to the ground underneath the monstrous creature. "Hiccup!" Violet shouted towards him, rising to her feet and moving to try and do something. Her friend was in trouble, and if she had to reveal her secret to save him, so be it.

Preparing to launch an attack, Violet smirked at the beast, only for Hiccup to shout a response. "Stop it bud! Give me a sec, I've gotta talk to her before she freaks out too much, okay?" The beast seemed to lift its head for a moment, turning it slightly to stare at her. There was something intelligent in those green eyes, studying her in a way that made Violet feel oddly exposed. Then, he stepped back, freeing Hiccup and apparently deciding to sit down in the middle of the street. Luckily, no one was driving in this area, but that wouldn't last for long. "Now, would you mind transforming back? I told you to stay at home, people around here aren't used to people like you, Toothless."

With that, the dragon's eyes narrowed, but a cloud of smoke still began to surround the creature. It clouded all vision of his form, obscuring him in a swirling spiral of grays before fading away into the wind. When it finished, Violet was staring with wide eyes at the sight of a small black cat, sitting in the street and watching both of them carefully. "H-hold on a second!" Hiccup was on his feet as Violet spoke, seeing her eyes practically bulging out of her head. He held his hands out defensively, but Violet was ready to burst out, after being scared half-to-death. "That _thing_ is Toothless? You said he was a cat!"

"He is, but—"

"And he just tried to kill us! What kind of pet tries to attack and kill its owner?"

"Well, he wasn't exactly—"

"Not to mention the snow. I mean, come on, if you're a Super, I guess I'm not too upset. But aren't you guys supposed to hide your powers or something? Maybe it's legal now, but that doesn't mean it isn't dangerous. Really, you could have just _shoved_ me out of the way, but no, you had to go and use your powers—"

"Violet!" Hiccup's shout interrupted her tirade, which was quickly becoming a rambling mess of terrified complaints. After her nightmare, she really was struggling with keeping a lid on her fear. "That wasn't me, I don't have any powers. The only one with powers here is, well, Toothless." Glancing at the cat, Violet found herself nervously approaching, seeing him gesture to the animal. "We have all kinds of super powered animals on Berk, though most of them end up turning into…well, dragons. Kinda hard to get people to believe in them outside of the island, though."

Kneeling down, Hiccup scratched the back of the cat's neck, smiling slightly as he gazed at his pet. "Hold on a second…so you're saying you didn't create the snow?" Hiccup shook his head, watching Violet try and piece everything together. "And Toothless is just a Super, but one who is an animal?" Another nod in agreement, making her drag a hand through her hair. "Then what the heck was that? Where did the snow come from?"

With his tail in the air, Toothless pulled away from Hiccup and began running around the street. He sat on the ground after reaching an odd point just next to the sidewalk, glancing to his side before focusing back on them. "Uh, bud? There's nothing there. I really don't think the sky decided to save her life, as amazing as that'd be. Nor do I think that mailbox over there has any special powers." Walking towards the cat, Hiccup frowned and watched as he seemed to roll his eyes. Violet was too busy processing the fact that a _cat_ appeared to understand what he was saying.

Slowly, she joined him by the cat, watching as Toothless seemed to rub against thin air for a moment. His neck seemed to arch slightly, and after a moment, he pulled back and let out a short hiss. After glaring at the air for a while, he seemed to settle back in, as if waiting for something more to happen. "Wait…Violet, you mentioned knowing a bit about Supers, right?" Hiccup glanced at her, while Violet nervously played with the ends of her hair.

"Well…I wouldn't say I know a lot, but there were a few incidents in town involving them a while ago." Her rambling was returning now that she had been terrified again. She thought she had gotten it under control, though! "Um…so, I guess we had a lot of news coverage about them, plus there was the whole legalization of powers, and then there's still this entire group of Supers that seems to work on fighting all crime in the city. They're—" Hiccup stood up, shaking his head at her with a half-smile as he interrupted.

"Hey, take a deep breath, Violet. We're okay, Toothless won't hurt you, I promise." He reached out, grabbing her shoulders as she did just that. When she nodded slowly and gave him a smile, he released her and ran a hand through his hair. "Right, so Supers. Hypothetically…would it be possible for there to be an invisible one, standing right here with us? Because honestly, Toothless really shouldn't have been able to fly on his own like that."

Not able to help herself, Violet felt her cheeks turn pink. She knew personally how easy it was to be standing invisible in the middle of a street, though the energy drain of keeping it up for long was difficult to manage. However, Hiccup had said hypothetically, and it was possible that she wasn't the only Super with the power to become invisible. "Um…maybe? I…I don't know if that makes me feel any better, especially because the snow is clearly what their power is. I mean, what does invisibility have to do with snow anyway?"

"Well, water is clear when it melts, right? Maybe their entire body is made of the stuff?" Hiccup's ridiculous suggestion made Violet laugh. Even if that was the case, they would have seen some kind of distortion in the air due to light passing through water differently than through air. "Okay, even I'll admit, that sounds stupid. Either way…I still think there's someone else over by Toothless. Someone…who I think he kinda likes. I mean, he hasn't tried setting anyone on fire yet."

Blinking, Violet's eyes widened as she turned towards him. "Wait, set someone on fire? Are you saying…that Toothless…is like a _real_ dragon? Like, one that breaths fire and everything?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Hiccup let out a nervous chuckle. "Uh, yes?" His pitch made it sound like a question, though he dropped his arm and sighed. "Like I said, his power is actually kinda common around Berk. At first, it terrified us to. Our entire town became focused on killing and slaying them, hoping to protect our home from destruction."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Violet narrowed her eyes at him. "So that's the kind of hunting your town was known for. I knew you were hiding something!" She lifted a hand in the air towards him, emphasizing her point. Hiccup flinched slightly however, making her blink and lean back. She didn't want to intimidate him, she was really just trying to understand what was going on.

"Yeah…but like I said, that's not really the point right now. I thought you were more concerned about the snow…?" He trailed off, while Violet bit her lip.

Glancing at the cat again, she could see Toothless now running in the grass. He crouched low, as it taunting someone with his tail waving in the air. In fact, the way he was crouching, it looked like he was trying to focus on something. His eyes closed, and Hiccup reached forward. "Toothless, don't—" His command came a moment too late. In seconds, the massive dragon reappeared, grinning and charging towards their invisible companion. However, he didn't seem to try and pounce on him like he had done with Hiccup. Instead, Toothless's head kept poking around the air, as if nudging someone.

"That's going to be a problem. Does he ever listen to you?" Violet raised an eyebrow at Hiccup, who sighed and hung his head.

"Only when he wants to. He's kinda a handful, but he's my best friend and I wouldn't trade him for anything." He gave her a half-smile, seeing her return grin. As terrifying as meeting him had been, Violet did have to admit, meeting an actual dragon was pretty cool. Now, she understood how spending some time with his pet had been enough to cheer Hiccup up from dealing with his heartbreak.

Toothless seemed to walk over towards a tree, biting a branch and snapping it off. Violet winced at the sound, uncertain of what to do. Watching the dragon, she saw him begin dragging one end along the ground for a moment, creating an odd swirling line before dropping the stick and sitting, as if waiting for something else to happen. "I think…I think Toothless can see this Super, Violet." Hiccup watched them closely, frowning.

"Either that, or he's crazy." Giving off a weak laugh, Hiccup seemed to watch for a moment. However, Violet got a different idea. Her backpack was still on, and she had her notebooks and pencils inside. Biting her lip, she pulled it off, rummaging inside and pulling one out, holding it forward towards the air. "Alright, I've had enough of this. You, invisible guy or girl…at least do something to make me think I'm not going insane imagining that you exist."

Nothing happened at first, beyond a slight breeze. However, that was when a single snowflake seemed to appear in the air, blowing towards both of them and revealing carefully crafted, stylized lines within the crystal. "Okay…even I have to admit, that was pretty unusual. So, what now?" Hiccup glanced towards Violet, who continued holding out the pencil and notebook.

"Alright, so you exist. Now, would you mind taking this so we can actually talk to you? I may not understand exactly what your power is…but if you don't show yourself soon, I'm going to assume you're another villain terrorizing this town." That seemed to catch the thing's attention. She felt something jerk on the notebook in her hands, tearing it from her grip.

 _I'm not supposed to._ That was all that was written, plain words on paper in response to her request.

"Okay…you're not supposed to talk?" She was uncertain of what he meant.

There was another pause, before one more word was added. _I'm not supposed to interfere._ That was confusing. Frowning, Violet turned it towards Hiccup, who sat down and studied it for a moment.

"Snow…someone Toothless actually likes…and someone who doesn't interfere. What does it all mean? Who…right, you can't tell us." Running a hand through his hair, Hiccup sighed, closing his eyes in thought. "Likely, this guy is a bit different from what we're used to. From what you've told me, Supers have no issue interfering with things, regardless of if they are good or bad." Knowing that too well, Violet nodded, joining him on the ground. Nearby, Toothless returned to his cat form, deciding to sit in Hiccup's lap, eyeing Violet carefully.

"So, he's not a Super, but he has the powers of one? That makes even less sense than before."

"I know." Hiccup grimaced, tapping the pencil against the page with a scowl. As he did so, another two snowflakes seemed to appear, this time floating directly towards both of them. Both seemed to rest on their noses, making Violet wrinkle hers from the cold, wet sensation. Hiccup only frowned even deeper, the tapping stopping. "No…it isn't possible. He's just a…" Hiccup trailed off, swallowing as he completely dropped the pencil and jumped back. "Gods, you scared me! If you could just make yourself visible, why didn't you say something?"

"Uh, Hiccup?" Violet caught his attention, making the boy glance towards her. "I hate to break it to you, but he's still invisible."

"Wait…what?" His eyes darted from her back to the space in the air, before growing wide. "Oh no, the gods hate me. Please tell me I haven't gone insane enough to actually see invisible people. Tell Loki to mess with someone else for once!"

Realizing that the boy had some odd beliefs, Violet couldn't help but giggle slightly. "Sorry, Hiccup, but I think it's a little late for that. Either way…I really do have some homework to get done. I'll think about this some more later on tonight, and I'll tell you if I come up with anything." She bit her lip, hesitating before turning away. She was close enough to home to walk now, but part of her felt bad for just leaving him like this. "So, I'll see you tomorrow? If everything goes well, we could try hanging out again. I wouldn't mind learning more about Toothless, too." She smiled, kneeling down and scratching behind his ear. At first, he seemed to try and lean away from her, but as she came closer, he stayed still and let her scratch him.

Shaking his head, the boy slowly ran a hand through his hair, giving her a nod. "Uh, yeah. That'll work…because maybe then, I won't feel like I've completely lost my mind." Laughing again, Violet waved towards him, picking up her notebook and pencil and walking off. As she did, Hiccup turned towards her, looking uncomfortable. "Oh, and the guy you can't see?" She paused, wondering what he wanted. "He says to tell you to be careful…and to ignore the dreams. He says he's working to stop them, whatever that means." Feeling a chill rush down her spine, Violet's smile faded and she found herself staring at the empty spot in the air with wide eyes. Forcefully, she nodded once more, but the haunting realization that those dreams actually meant something stuck with her. Someone was forcing them into her mind, for the last two weeks. If that was the case, she wasn't just going to sit back and take them lightly. Her family wasn't a family of superheroes for nothing, after all.

 **I've got one of them believing in Jack at least! It just seemed like Hiccup would be quicker to believe out of the two of them right now, since Violet is kinda hung up on believing he's a Super of some kind. Either way, feel free to review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hiccup hadn't exactly planned for the day to go by like this. Somehow, Toothless got out of the house. Not only that, but the first girl he met that actually seemed willing to talk to him just had to see him as a dragon. Luckily, she hadn't freaked out too badly. Actually, in a way, she had handled it better than Astrid. At least Violet hadn't gone charging at him with an axe trying to kill his best friend. Plus, she had told him she was interested in meeting Toothless again. That was a good sign, right? Shaking his head, he sighed and wondered what he was going to do with his life now. No one was supposed to know about Toothless, that was the rule he had given himself. Simply put, he just wasn't supposed to exist outside of Berk.

If that wasn't enough, he now had another problem to deal with. Standing in front of him was a weird guy, dressed in a blue hoodie with tan pants. His gaze remained focused, though there was something almost sad in his eyes as he watched Violet go. "So…are you going to tell me what you meant by that, or just leave me in the dark?" Part of him even wondered how insane he was. Really, he hadn't been able to see the guy until he thought back to some of the stories told around Berk. With all of their ridiculous beliefs about magic and magical creatures, one seemed to fit their invisible friend quite well. Winter spirits were mischievous little things, and the most notorious of them all was one by the name of Jack Frost. Essentially, it fit the bill of finding someone with super powers who wasn't, by definition, a Super.

However, that still didn't mean he expected himself to be right, or even close to right. The guy seemed to shake his head, his blue eyes shifting to focus on Hiccup for a moment before he gave the brunette a small smirk. "Right…I forgot, you can see me now." Swinging his staff over his shoulder, Jack straightened and tilted his head. "How old are you anyway? Most kids can't see me unless they're…uh, younger?"

"What is that supposed to mean? I just wanted to know why you were paranoid about Violet's dreams." When Jack still didn't reply, Hiccup threw his hands into the air, sighing dramatically. "Fine, I'm sixteen, okay? Are you happy enough to at least give me an answer now?"

Laughing at his response, Jack reached forward and ruffled his hair. He scowled in response, hating the way this guy seemed to treat him like a kid. "Alright, alright, no need to get all upset over nothing. I've got…an enemy, of sorts, that seems to be targeting this town. Last night, I saw him around Violet, and I've been following—" He broke off, stopping his words and biting his lip.

Feeling like he had eaten a batch of bad fish, Hiccup grimaced at the guy. "You've been following her, haven't you? Man, and here I was, thinking you'd be better than just some creepy stalker. What, did you see her in her sleep and get a crush on her or something?"

"No!" Jack's shout came almost immediately, making Hiccup actually wonder if his teasing had struck a nerve. "I…it would never work out, anyway. People don't believe in me long enough for any real relationship to happen. Plus, my…er, job, I guess, keeps me pretty busy. I can't be around much, and when I am around, I'm usually trying to find some kids to cheer up."

He was avoiding Hiccup's gaze, looking distant as he gripped his staff tightly. After a moment, he sighed and sat down in the grass, resting the staff on his lap. "Speaking of cheering up…that dragon of yours is freaking awesome." There was a grin on his face as he pointed towards Toothless. "I've seen them around further north, but I never imagined anyone had figured out how to actually ride one."

Keeping his hand pressed to Toothless' back, Hiccup's eyes narrowed. "And speaking of Toothless…would you care to explain how you managed to ride him? Or better yet, if anyone actually saw a massive dragon flying over town? Things like that are kind of important, you know, since most people react with guns, fire, and screams of terror." Jack blinked at him, scratching the back of his neck before giving Hiccup a sheepish grin. Already seeing the answer, Hiccup groaned. "You didn't. That's just great…you were so concerned about going out and having fun that you didn't even bother to think of the consequences."

That seemed to ignite something in Jack, making his eyes narrow at him in return. "Hey! If I wanted to be yelled at, I would have gone to North. Instead, I'm sticking around _your_ town, trying to help _your_ girlfriend fight off Pitch! Would the other Guardians help her out? No, because _she isn't a child._ Can I hope to gain any believers out of the deal, or even have a fun time? No, because once again, _she isn't a child._ Plus, it isn't winter, so I can't exactly gain even temporary belief from her with my usual methods." Spinning around his staff, he grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "At least one of you sees me, but I highly doubt that'll last for long. I mean, really, who do you honestly think I am?"

The question made Hiccup pause, staring at the boy as he seemed to pace around. Clearly, something was wrong with him. Now that he looked closer at the boy, he could see something broken in those eyes, a look of sadness and loneliness far beyond anything Hiccup had experienced. "Okay, okay, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just a little frustrated because you put my friend in danger, that's all." Hiccup tried to go on the defensive, but that only earned him a snort from the other boy. "Uh…anyway…kinda figured you were a winter spirit. Plus, you're complaint about it _not_ being winter just helped confirm that fact…" He trailed off, uncertain of if he should name the only one he actually had heard of. This was his first time even realizing any of those stories he heard back on Berk could be real.

"Close enough, I guess. The name's Jack Frost, and on top of all that, I'm a Guardian. According to North, that means there's only so much I can do to gain belief…only so many ways I can interfere in your lives to make someone see me. I took a bit of a risk even writing that much in Violet's notebook, North would kill me if he found out I did even that." He glanced towards Hiccup, who was still processing all of this.

He paused for a moment, nodding and running a hand through his hair. "Okay, great. So, I'm talking to a nonexistent, invisible, winter spirit who is best friends with a _direction._ Nothing unusual about that, nope not at all, just your typical day…" Hiccup was wondering if he should just go home and sleep. Maybe then, things would make more sense in his dreams. At least there, he could write off any odd occurrences as his own imagination.

Jack's laughter distracted him, making him glance towards the winter spirit. "A direction? You think North is—man, that's a first." He was grinning, tilting his head at Hiccup as he studied the boy. "So, you really don't believe in him? Are you saying you actually believe in _me_ , but not them? This is great, I can't wait 'til I tell Bunny about this…" He trailed off, his amused smile fading as he shook his head.

"Oh…" Hiccup trailed off, feeling heat in his cheeks over his mistake. Of course, it was just a name. "Um, sorry…didn't realize there were, uh, other spirits you were friends with. I guess you guys are pretty amazing too, just like the Supers that protect this world. The only difference is no one knows about any of you."

The winter spirit seemed to be staring at Hiccup, his gaze not looking away. "You look a lot like him…or maybe I'm just imagining things. Lately, all I seem to be able to think about is him." It seemed like an odd moment to go on a weird tangent, but Hiccup didn't interrupt. Jack's head was falling forward, a frown on his face as he finally dropped his scrutinizing gaze. "You can't imagine what it is like, living like any of us. Sure, I try to forget about all of it, but sometimes…snowball fights can only cover up so much, and there are only so many distractions to use to keep your mind occupied."

"Okay…so, I look like another spirit friend of yours?"

"No. You look like Jamie." His words were quiet, almost pained. "He's probably only a year younger than you, he's got the same hair, and as he grew up and lost some of that baby fat, his face really thinned out, kinda like yours. There's still something off about the eyes, and of course, there's that scar of yours…" Jack trailed off, sighing. "Either way, you probably don't care about any of this. You just want to know why I took your dragon and what's going on with your girlfriend."

Last time, Hiccup had missed what Jack referred to Violet as. This time, he caught it with ease. "Girlfriend? Wait…I never said…" He saw Jack's quick smirk as he began to try and counter his comment.

"Well, let's see…you ate lunch with her at school, you invited her to go hanging out with her afterwords, and you showed her your greatest secret. Seems to me like you've got the whole trust thing going, not to mention you two are going out again tomorrow…" He watched as Hiccup's face turned red. Sure, Violet was a cute girl, but she just got dumped today! Hiccup knew that it took time to get over things like that, he was only trying to be a good friend. Then again, the last time he had a female friend, he did end up dating her.

Closing his eyes, Hiccup shook his head and tried to get rid of that thought. "We're going out as _friends._ She learned the truth about Toothless on _accident._ How was I supposed to know he was going to try and attack me when he saw me today? Heck, how was I supposed to know he found another rider to go flying with? Speaking of which…how did you figure out how to fly Toothless? He isn't normally that trusting."

Frowning, Jack glanced at the cat in Hiccup's lap. the cat's head lifted, his head tilting with his green eyes watching Jack carefully. "Um, at first I kinda did it manually. You know, using my hands to twist that little hand-made tail fin on him." That would have been a disaster waiting to happen. There wasn't much to use for balance on the tail of a dragon. "That was before I figured out that there was this contraption attached to the foot rest…kinda hard to use with your foot though. My staff seemed to fit, and he looked more comfortable with me not grabbing his tail, so I stuck around on his back for a bit. As for trusting me…I don't really know. All I know is that I flew by your house, I'm guessing, and he saw me. Can't say I know for sure if the same rules about belief apply to him or not, but I was curious enough to see what he wanted."

"Haven't you ever heard of the phrase curiosity killed the cat? Or do you normally just go breaking into people's homes because of something weird their pets do?"

Scratching the back of his head, Jack gave him another half-smile. "Woops…didn't think about that. But, hey, no harm done! Your pet is back, right?" Nodding, Hiccup glanced down at Toothless. "It looked like he really wanted to get out for a bit, too, so I guess he had some fun spending time with me."

Giving a slight smile, Hiccup began scratching the back of Toothless' neck. It wasn't his favorite spot, but right now, he wasn't trying to incapacitate his pet either. "You've got a point. So…about what's going on with Violet." Jack seemed to stiffen, his smile fading quickly. He probably wasn't supposed to talk about it, but Hiccup wasn't letting this go. "Who are we looking out for? I mean, surely if we know what we're up against, we can come up with an actual plan to stop him. There are a ton of Supers in this town, at least one of them should—"

Jack cut him off, shaking his head. "They won't be able to see him. He's…kinda like me, as much as I hate to admit it. Not only is he a spirit, but he has few believers, and he tends to do a lot of his work without actually being seen. That's about where our similarities end, though." Jack scratched the back of his neck, sighing. "Look, it isn't your job to deal with him. Last time we fought, he was targeting children, specifically, the ones that believed in the Guardians. Now, he's decided to try and target adults. It makes things a bit more difficult…but I'll figure something out. Just…let me know if you start having nightmares, too, okay? That's kind of his specialty."

Uncertain how magic could cause bad dreams, Hiccup only nodded. "I'm guessing that means you've gotta get going?"

Nodding, Jack grinned at him. "Yep, I can't neglect my duties for long, now can I? I'm certain there's a town waiting for a snow day somewhere, I've just gotta find it." He rose to his feet, picking his staff up with him. "Oh, and as for Violet? I may not be able to tell her to believe in me, but there's no rule saying you can't. Just…try and convince her that I'm real, so that I can try to talk to her about all of this. Those nightmares can wreak havoc on a person, trust me, I've seen the results." With that, he took off into the sky before Hiccup could ask about anything further.

Surprised to see him actually fly on his own, Hiccup couldn't help but grin as he watched Jack leave. There was something broken in that guy, so for now, he would forgive him for stealing Toothless away. Maybe sometime, he could help the guy get over whatever had happened in his past. From the sounds of things, it wasn't that good, and if he thought about it further, he may have realized that maybe spending time with Jack wasn't the best idea. Right now, he reminded the winter spirit of someone he had lost in his past, and those memories weren't a good thing for anyone to have to constantly think about.

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

Later that night, Rapunzel was resting in her room, feeling safe and pleased with the day. She had already made so many great friends. First, Merida had been an amazingly brave woman who inspired Rapunzel to be herself throughout the day. After that boost in confidence, she met Anna and Elsa, two sisters that did almost everything together. It seemed kind of weird, but Anna actually told her they were making up for lost time. Apparently, Elsa had gone through a period of shutting everyone out, and now, Anna was helping to show the girl how to be in public again. It was kind of sweet to see, especially with how innocent Anna seemed.

Falling asleep, Rapunzel expected her usual sweet dreams. Most of the time, her dreams were filled with adventures. She'd go on trips with Eugene, sometimes taking Pascal with her, and other times, she'd be alone, enjoying her freedom. However, as reality faded away from her view and a new scene opened in her mind, Rapunzel questioned if this dream was a dream, or a memory. She stood in a familiar room, one which she had spent her entire childhood in. This was where she spent the worst years of her life, never allowed to leave and terrified of the outside world.

Already feeling her arms begin to shake, Rapunzel walked down the stairs and into the main room. It was circular, with wooden rafters above her to support the building. "H-hello?" By her side, she noticed a frying pan gripped tightly in her hand. She didn't know where it came from, but she was glad it was here. At least with this, she could protect herself in some form.

Stepping out into the main room, Rapunzel froze. Standing there was the nightmarish woman who had abused her power to stay young far beyond her years. Gothel, dressed in her blood-red gown, stood over a slumped figure on the ground, holding a gleaming knife in her hand. "There you are, Rapnuzel. I wasn't going to let him take you away from me again, now was I?" She laughed, reaching forward. As if attached to a chain, Rapunzel was dragged closer, where she stood in Gothel's grasp.

Struggling, Rapunzel squirmed in her grip. The frying pan smacked against Gothel's legs, but Rapunzel couldn't move her arms enough to put any force behind her swings. "Let me go!" She was yelling trying so hard to break free.

"Oh? But if I do that, who will be here to heal him?" Pointing towards their feet, Rapunzel stopped struggling to stare at the ground. There, she finally recognized the victim of Gothel's attack.

Her breathing stopped. In fact, she could have sworn her heart stopped too. Eugene, with his eyes closed, was collapsed on the ground with a growing red stain on his back. "But…I'm the one who can heal him."

Laughing, Gothel seemed to grasp her hair, tugging on it gently. "My flower, do you really think I'd let you use it without my permission? Have you not figured out who is pulling your strings? Even when I'm gone, you still do exactly as I desire…in the end, in your heart, you still know the truth…Mother knows best."

Those words were like a knife to her heart, and she refused to listen. "No! This isn't right, you aren't in control of me anymore." With a fierce glare, she knelt down next to Eugene, finally freeing herself from Gothel's weak grip. "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine…" As she sang, she gripped Eugene's hand tightly, pressing it to her head to activate her power. However, once the song was finished, she noticed something off. Her head didn't feel warm from the use of her power, and Eugene wasn't waking up.

Blinking, Rapunzel tried again, singing to him to heal his wounds. Maybe it was just too severe for one healing to help. "I told you…you need me, Rapunzel. You will always need me." Those dark words brought tears to her eyes, making her blink at Eugene through the blur of moisture.

"Can…if I admit that…can you save him?" She had no other options. She wouldn't let him die, no matter what it took.

A hand cupped her cheek, crouching by her side. "Oh, my poor dear. Look at what the world has done to you. Of course I will help you. After all, I would truly hate to be the bad guy in your eyes, not after so much time spent raising you, treating you as if you were my own child." Nodding, Rapunzel gripped Gothel's hand, while feeling dread sink into her heart. She would never leave this place again, not after this. In her heart, she knew Gothel's words were right. She had never left this tower, not in her heart.

"I need you, Go—Mother. I need you…so please, save him."

Brushing aside Rapunzel's hair gently, Gothel began to sing for her. "Flower gleam and glow. Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine, what once was mine." Her voice was soft and melodious, a familiar sound to her ears. However, Rapunzel's frown deepened when no glowing occurred. Her hand lifted, touching her head only for her eyes to widen. "This is the price of the outside world, my flower. I always warned you that if you left, it would destroy you. You simply learned your lesson too late."

She could feel the ends of her hair. That was what was so wrong. Turning around, Rapunzel found herself face to face with a mirror, seeing herself with an odd, pixie style cut on her head. Not only that, but the golden color she had grown so used to was gone. In its place were locks of brown hair, the same color her real mother's was. "No…but, if my hair is gone, then I can't…" She trailed off, glancing behind her. Eugene's breaths were getting farther in between, harder to see from where she stood. She felt her legs give out, collapsing beneath her as she fell to the floor. "Nonononono!, Please, no…don't take him from me, please." Sobbing, Rapunzel hunched over him protectively, as if she could protect him from a wound that was already given.

"You were…you were my dream." She saw Eugene's face turn towards her, groaning slightly. His hand lifted, touching her cheek with a slight grimace from the pain. Smiling through the tears, she tried to give him a kind face to remember before he left.

At that moment, Eugene let his hand fall, turning away from her with a scowl. "Sorry, I'm only into blonds." Freezing at his words, Rapunzel tried to figure out if she misheard him. Surely, she had. Eugene would never say something like that, not after everything they went through together. He was the one who had gotten her away from Gothel, who showed her the outside world. Without him, she would still be…no, she still was trapped here, even with him. Wasn't that the very thing she had just realized?

Glancing up, she tried to turn to the only person left for comfort. Maybe she was cruel and mean, but Gothel was still her mother. The woman who raised her and fed her was still here. Maybe…she could just pretend she never learned the truth. Wanting comfort, she reached out towards her, only for the woman to trip and fall out the window. As if karma hated Rapunzel, along with her fall, the rafters above began to crack and break, collapsing and blocking the only exit. Watching the entire event, Rapunzel stared with wide eyes. Beneath her hand, she felt Eugene's chest stop rising and falling. Now, she was trapped, and there was no one left to help her. She was all alone, and that would never change.

Unable to stop herself, Rapunzel shot to her feet, throwing her body at the wood blocking her exit. She wouldn't accept this, being trapped here again. When her shoulder proved too weak to break through and pain began surging through her arm, she glanced at the frying pan in her grip. Finally, it would be put to good use against something other than ruffians trying to steal her hair. Grabbing it with both hands, she swung with all her might against the wood. A loud bang echoed in the room and she smiled triumphantly as the block splintered, breaking slightly. A few more good hits and a hole greeted her, which she began tearing away at to see what was behind it. However, her grip on the frying pan was lost when she saw the stone wall behind the wood. It was impossible, it had just been an exit before. Breathing heavily, Rapunzel let her hands lift, gripping her head tightly as she stumbled back.

Her gaze flickered between Eugene and the new stone wall, panic settling in. This couldn't be real. That was the only thing she could focus on. She couldn't be trapped in this place again, a tower-like castle she had once called home. Eugene was still alive. Gothel, while imprisoned for kidnapping, was also still alive. None of this…none of it could be happening, could it? The doubt made her pulse race and had the hair on her arms rising to stand on ends. She could feel the goosebumps on her skin as she heard something creak in the dark room, making her flinch and spin around to try and find the source.

Backing away, Rapunzel felt her upper arm scrape against the splintered wood. Wincing form the pain, Rapunzel stopped moving, keeping her eyes focused on scanning the room. Eugene was dead, so it couldn't have been him. Eugene was dead. He was dead. The thought made her still, and it continued repeating in her mind as her eyes locked on his form.

"No…please…" Her voice cracked again, tears falling down her cheeks. Falling to her knees, Rapunzel's sobs became the only noise heard. Whatever was inside could have her, she decided. She wanted to join Eugene, where anything was better than this. "Flower gleam and glow…let your power shine…" Her broken voice sang out, only reminding her of what she had lost herself. She had no power, and she couldn't save anyone, not even herself. "Make the clock reverse," If only such a thing were possible. She almost couldn't continue on after that line. "Bring back what once was mine." Her last line was barely a whisper, realizing that she really never did win over his heart completely. They weren't married, and Eugene had a life of his own. Really, when it came down to it, they were just two people fantasizing about dreams that were impossible to achieve.

Another creak echoed in the room, once again reminding Rapunzel that something was after her in this place. The fear had not left, but her sorrow outweighed the terror. However, that was only true for a few moments, before a massive shadowy form appeared in the room with her. It seemed to be humanoid in structure, but made entirely of darkness, spiraling higher and higher until it towered over her, the creature's head hitting the ceiling. Gazing up at it, Rapunzel let out a shriek as a flash of golden yellow seemed to illuminate from above. Covering her head with her arms, she slammed her eyes shut, wishing for it to just be over. Then, as if hearing her wish, it happened.

Her eyes flashed open and she found herself gasping for air in bed. Her heart was racing, and her pink covers were half-shoved into a heap on the floor. Her legs were cold, exposed to the air with just a pair of white shorts and a pink tank-top on for sleeping. Curling into a ball, Rapunzel tried taking deep breaths to calm herself. "It's okay, Rapunzel, it was just a dream. Eugene is probably fine. In fact, he'd laugh at me for freaking out so much about this. Really, I shouldn't bother him…right, Pascal?" Glancing over at the tank in her room, the chameleon seemed to open his eyes and glare at her for interrupting his sleep. However, after the mild irritation ended, he walked towards her, blinking and waiting for her to make up her own mind on the matter.

Biting her lip, Rapunzel fell back onto her pillows. "Ugh, but I can't shake that dream! It was so real, Pascal, I could have sworn…I could have sworn that I was back in that place. That Eugene was…gone." She couldn't bring herself to call him dead. It would only make it sound that much more permanent, instead of simply out of sight.

"Okay…you've convinced me. I have to call him, at least for a moment. Hopefully he's not too tired tonight…" Rapunzel bit her lip, grabbing her cell phone and holding it in her palm for a moment. Pascal shook his head at her, smacking his face with his hands as she seemed to continue debating the call. "But, what if he has class tomorrow? Is Eugene even in college right now? Maybe I should have asked him about that sooner…I guess I really don't know a whole lot about him, do I?" Giggling, Rapunzel held the phone to her chest, finally smiling for the first time after the dream. However, the fear still lingered in her chest. Knowing it wouldn't go away until she confirmed it was all in her head, Rapunzel found Eugene's number and dialed, waiting for a response.

Humming while she waited, Rapunzel rose to her feet, stretching slightly. Her back ached from whatever position she ended up sleeping in from that dream. Not only that, but there was a cramp in her side that just wouldn't go away. Bending her waist slightly, she frowned and tried to make the sensation go away. "Hi, you've reached Flynn Ryder, and if you're calling for a wonderful night with the handsomest guy in town, you've reached the right spot. Just leave a message after the tone and I'll call you back later, Beautiful." Rolling her eyes at his fake name and overly flirtatious voicemail, Rapunzel couldn't stop herself from laughing just as the tone went off.

"Uh…right, sorry about that." Rapunzel realized it had recorded that, giving her a wonderfully awkward start to her message. "So, um…I'm not really good with these things yet, so I'll just keep it short. It's me, Rapunzel…but you probably already knew that, so I guess I just made this even worse…" Gulping, Rapunzel wondered just how people managed to leave normal messages on phones. Gothel never let her have one, and using this one was still foreign to her. "Right, I just…" She trailed off, the image of her dream flashing in her mind. She let out a slight squeak, gripping her legs tightly and sitting on the ground. "I'm kinda freaking out, so I think I'm just going to head over to see you. Call me if you get this before I get there…or something."

Hanging up, Rapunzel sighed and hung her head. Pushing back her hair, she felt a small amount of relief at the length that had returned. Lifting her gaze, she gave Pascal a slight smile, seeing the chameleon shake his head at her once more. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad." Her pet seemed to lift an eyebrow, as if daring her to repeat the comment. "Okay, maybe that was a disaster. But…I'm going to get to see Eugene now! Isn't that great?" Rolling his eyes, Pascal seemed to walk into a corner of his cage, getting comfortable again to fall back asleep. "Right, I guess it's kinda late for you too. I'll let you get some sleep. See you in the morning, Pascal."

Walking towards her window, Rapunzel hesitated. Her eyes flickered towards her door, wondering what her parents would say about this. They didn't exactly hate Eugene, but they didn't really approve of him either. Something about his rebellious past bothered them, though Rapunzel could see that he was changing for the better. Recalling her dream one last time with a shudder, she quickly made up her mind. Pushing the window wide open, she carefully crawled out and into the front lawn. Glancing back one last time to make sure she wasn't seen, Rapunzel began walking out towards the street.

Walking passed a few houses, Rapunzel began to make her way towards Eugene's house. It would take a little while to get there on foot, but she figured it was worth it to get that dream out of her head. After that nightmare, she felt almost completely drained. Everything had seemed so realistic. The details of the tower had been replicated almost perfectly, and she could still remember the slowing pace of Eugene's heartbeat beneath her hand. Feeling her arms begin to shake, Rapunzel kept her head low and tried wrapping them around her waist to hide it. She wouldn't be weak, not right now. Eugene would make it all go away, and then she could go back to focusing on having a good time with her new friends at school.

Trying to keep her focus solely on breathing and walking, Rapunzel continued on. She turned down another street, still keeping her head ducked low. However, maybe that hadn't been the best idea. Soon, she found herself smacking directly into someone, falling back slightly and landing on her butt. The fact that her long hair got tangled against her legs had _nothing_ to do with her lost balance. She refused to blame her hair on her misfortunes, not when it could do so many amazing things. However, that didn't mean she wasn't sitting on the ground with a soar butt, staring over at a guy who had managed to catch himself before falling.

Blinking, the boy seemed to frown at her for a moment. "Wait…someone's out walking at this time of night? Man, I guess this town really is kinda crazy." With brown hair and freckles, he looked kind of young. Oddly, Rapunzel felt like she had seen this guy somewhere, but she couldn't quite place his face. His hazel eyes seemed to stare into her own as he held out a hand to help her up. Taking it, Rapunzel felt herself being dragged to her feet, belatedly noticing the black ball of fur in his other arm. Green eyes seemed to open, turning to study her closely.

Watching the animal, Rapunzel felt captivated for a moment. She always had a thing for all pets, especially after bonding so much with Pascal. This one was no different, with its cute nose and eyes that were even greener and deeper than her own. "Oh my gosh, he is so cute! Is he yours? Does he have a name?" Leaning forward, Rapunzel seemed to startle the man as she tried to get closer to the cat. Seeing her approach, the animal seemed to hiss, revealing small white teeth in its mouth in response. Blinking, Rapunzel froze, staying completely still and letting the wind carry her scent towards him. Maybe then he would see that she understood his language, and begin to trust him.

"Uh, yeah…this is Toothless…he isn't really a people person, though." He gave her a half-smile with that, shrugging slightly. "My name's Hiccup…didn't I see you at school today?"

Now focusing on the boy rather than the animal, Rapunzel's eyes widened as a grin spread across her face. "That's where I know you from! I knew I knew you!" She placed her hands on her hips, proud that she finally figured out why he was familiar. "I'm Rapunzel…sorry, I'm kinda new around town and I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going…" She trailed off, biting her lip as her smile faded. Once again, she found the image of Eugene's dead body burned onto the backside of her eyelids, flashing with every blink. A chill lingered in her body, and suddenly, she found the moonlit sky to be a very frightening sight to see. "I…I probably should get going. I…this whole thing was stupid anyway, getting all worked up over some stupid dream—"

"Wait, dream?" Hiccup seemed interested in that, frowning as he stepped closer. "Like…a nightmare?"

Avoiding his gaze, Rapunzel nodded, stroking her hair gently. It was the only thing she had to confirm that it wasn't real, that none of it had actually happened. "Yeah…a really bad one, too. A friend of mine…something bad happened to him in my dream. I thought that if I saw him, I could convince myself that it wasn't real, and stop thinking about it. Kinda stupid, right?" She blushed slightly, avoiding his gaze.

"No, not really. Bad dreams have a tendency to stick with you for a bit. Plus…I kinda heard a weird rumor going around town." Hiccup seemed to frown, thinking about his words carefully. Rapunzel wasn't used to people who were so thoughtful, but she found it interesting to watch the way his brow furrowed, creating odd creases around his eyes as he thought. "Yeah, really weird, now that I think about it. In fact, it's probably so weird that you would think I was crazy for even considering it as a possibility…better just to keep it to myself, I suppose."

Hiccup turned to walk away, but Rapunzel wasn't letting him just leave her in the dark now. "Hey! I won't call you crazy, please! What rumor did you hear about? Is it about me? My hair? Are there ruffians in town, looking for me?" Glancing around, Rapunzel wondered if she should have been running from the start. The guy had asked her about being out so late, but he had never given his own excuse for being in the streets in the dark.

Leaning away from her small, angry figure, Hiccup held his hands out in surrender. "Alright, alright! Just…could you take a few steps back first?" Blinking, Rapunzel realized she was practically pressing her fist into his chest, demanding answers. Blinking, she quickly took a large step back, putting some space between them as she realized she had to work a lot on understanding social interactions. Growing up in a tower really wasn't the best place to learn about personal space, or how to get people to trust you.

Now standing across from her, Hiccup seemed to glance at his cat for a moment before sighing. "So, yeah…it sounds like there's some kind of villain in town that likes toying with people's dreams. A…well, I won't exactly talk about who that was, that's kinda where things go really crazy, but he said he was here to fight against someone who was interested in changing our dreams. He gave me a warning, trying to tell me to get people to believe in him before it was too late…but heck, even I think I'm crazy for listening to him in the first place." His gaze flickered over towards her, frowning for a moment. "At least, I thought it was crazy before running into you. Just how bad was that dream in the first place?"

Shaking her head, Rapunzel found the fear too great to even talk about it. "No! I don't…I won't talk about it, not with anyone other than Eugene." The name made the other boy frown, but she continued on. "And as for your theory…I don't think it's that crazy. I mean, I grew up isolated in a tower after being kidnapped from my parents when I was a baby. A life like that kinda makes your imagination run wild, and it makes it easer to hope for magic in the world."

Smirking slightly, Hiccup seemed to shift his weight. "Magic, huh? Well, maybe this won't be too crazy to you after all." Running a hand through his hair, the boy seemed to debate with himself for a moment. In his arms, Toothless seemed to be falling asleep, though he kept twitching every now and then to keep an eye on Rapunzel.

"Wait, are you saying that this was caused by actual magic? Like, not just super powers, but real, magical beings?" With wide eyes, Rapunzel found herself walking closer, only to realize she was invading his personal space once more. Stopping, she let him back away again, watching him shake his head at her.

"Maybe…I don't know if I believe it myself. So, among those magical beings you've constantly been imagining your hole life…did you ever imagine one named Jack Frost?" The name didn't mean anything to her. Granted, she only ever really read about five books growing up, but it was still disappointing that it wasn't something she knew. "Didn't think so." Whatever expression she had worn, clearly it expressed confusion to Hiccup. "He's kind of an obscure guy, even where I come from. See, back on Berk, we believe in all kinds of magical creatures. Trolls, goblins, ghosts, spirits…we think they're all real, so the people there end up a little nutty. I was one of the only normal people there, the only one who thought it was impossible for things like that to exist. Imagine my surprise when I come face to face with an actual winter spirit…and not just any winter spirit, but Jack Frost himself."

"Winter spirit? So…he's a magical being that controls winter?" Uncertain of how that messed with her dreams, Rapunzel only frowned.

Nodding, Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck again. "Yeah…that basically sums it up. He was the one who warned me about this other guy…though he never gave me a name. Basically, this enemy of Jack Frost is known for creating nightmares. Another friend of mine had one a while back and got Jack's attention, and now that you've had one…well, I'm starting to wonder if he really was onto something, talking about some random guy who could alter dreams. I'll keep an ear out and let you know if I hear anything more…but until then, just try and hang tight, okay? Dreams may seem scary, but they don't have to become reality if you don't want them to."

Nodding, Rapunzel clasped her hands together, smiling at the boy. "Alright then. You know, I think I'm glad I ran into you tonight. Not only did I learn that magical creatures exist…I also realized that you are right. I'm not the girl trapped in that tower anymore, and I've got friends watching my back. I'll fight to stay free if I have to…and I won't let anything like that happen to me again." With the boy only shaking his head at her, Rapunzel smiled brightly. He gave her a slight wave, moving to walk down the street further.

"Glad to help. Either way, I really should get heading back. I only went out to try and find Toothless, and Lucius is probably freaking out about now." With that, he turned around, walking towards home.

Shouting out towards him, Rapunzel tried to catch his attention. "Thank you! It was nice meeting you, Hiccup! I'll see you at school!" Waving brightly towards him, she giggled and began turning back towards home. Maybe she didn't need to see Eugene after all to cheer herself up. All she had to do was realize that she could make her life whatever she wanted it to be, because that was what true freedom was really about.

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

The nightmares were pretty much the same that night for Violet. Falling asleep, she dreamed about another super villain attacking and killing her entire family once more. The entire time, she was too powerless to stop them. Violet was tired of the repetition of these dreams. Lately, she was beginning to wonder if there was any truth to them as well. As she got up and prepared for school, she couldn't help but notice the dark circles under her eyes from her sleeping issues. She really needed to work on her stress management or something, because otherwise, this was going to tear her apart.

Walking downstairs, Violet didn't even flinch as Dash rushed past her in a blur. He was at the table eating breakfast before she even finished walking down the stairs. Rubbing her eyes, Violet yawned and began grabbing her own bowl for cereal, not noticing the way her parents turned to stare at her carefully. As she pulled the dish out from the cupboard, her mother rose, walking closer and taking a deep breath. "Hey, Vi?" Hearing her voice, quiet and questioning, made Violet hesitated, glancing towards her mother with a frown. "I think we need to talk, if you have a moment." With that, Mom leaned against the counter, keeping her voice too low for the others to hear. "Yesterday morning…I couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something bothering you. Are you having issues at school? Are the other kids bothering you?"

She seemed to try and fish for information, like usual. Violet was used to her mother nosing into her personal life, refusing to think she could do anything on her own. It was annoying, even if her mother really was trying to help. Scowling, she folded her arms over her chest. "So what? Can I not just be in a bad mood every once in a while? Jeesh, I thought you trusted me, Mom. Maybe I was just a little tired, did you ever think of that?"

With a hand pressed to her chest, Mom seemed to give her a small smile. "See, now that's exactly what I'm talking about." Her words made Violet blink, realizing that she was right. Violet may get snappy with her mom sometimes, but not for something so small like this. Her glare fell from her face, while she only stared with wide eyes. "You've got something more going on than the usual stress, Vi. I'm only trying to figure out what your father and I can do to make it better. Do you need time off from your super work? Would that help?"

Biting her lip, Violet shook her head. "I don't really think so…to be honest, I really am just tired. I've been having some sleep issues lately…makes it kinda hard to stay in a good mood, if I'm being honest." Brushing aside some of her hair, she gave Mom a weak smile. She didn't want to give out any more details than that, not when that would require getting into the whole mess with Tony and the new one she was making with Hiccup. Seriously, how many guys could she find herself interested in after one day? She couldn't believe herself, thinking about how cute Hiccup was only hours after getting dumped by Tony. Then again, it wasn't like she had ever managed to go out with Tony that much. Devastating losses were really only devastating if she knew who it was she was losing.

"Do you want to talk about it? Sometimes, it helps to talk about your dreams. It allows you to figure out what is bothering you about them, so you can work towards getting rid of that influence when you wake up." Already seeing what would happen, Violet sighed and shook her head.

She wasn't going to let her parents pull her from her job as a superhero. That, despite her mother's constant insistence otherwise, took priority over all else. It was the only thing that made her feel good about herself, realizing she could help others with the gifts she had been given. "It isn't exactly that I can't figure out what's bothering me about them. In fact, I know that they aren't true, but I can't help but feel terrified anyway." The worse ones were the ones like she had the night before last night, when she saw herself as the villain. At least this time, she had woken up before the villain transformed from someone they had already defeated in the past.

Smiling, Helen touched her cheek gently, shaking her head. "Well, did you get rid of the source of those dreams in your life? Start trying to make some changes, and maybe, things will start looking up after that."

Closing her eyes, Violet shook her head. "No, I don't want to do that! You don't understand, I'm not giving up my life because of some stupid dreams!" She found herself raising the volume of her voice again, before blinking and leaning back as she realized she had started yelling. "Um…what I meant to say was that…uh, yeah."

Holding her hand out, Helen seemed to interrupt before Violet could take her words back. "Hold on, are you trying to tell me that these dreams are abusing every aspect of your life to make you afraid? Are you really afraid of everything in your life, Violet?"

Shaking her head, Violet bit her lip and sighed, running a hand through her hair. Of course, she couldn't keep her mouth shut long enough to hide it from Mom. "No…but it uses almost all of it?" She tried giving a weak smile, but her mother wasn't buying it. Surrendering, she let her hands fall to her sides, keeping her gaze focused on her feet. "I keep dreaming…that some super villain comes and destroys all of you. That all of it is my fault…because I'm either too weak, or…" She trailed off, not even wanting to voice the other option.

"Oh, honey." Helen stepped closer, brushing aside her hair and tilting her head up. "You know that won't happen. And do you wanna know why I'm so sure of that?" Keeping her eyes locked on her mother's Violet only nodded. "Because we have you. You are so special, Violet, and you are amazing just the way you are. Even if something does go wrong, you always find a way to pull through and come up with a new plan to succeed."

Nodding, Violet gave her mom a small smile and turned to grab her bowl again. "Thanks, Mom. Now…may I go eat breakfast before I have to leave for school today?"

Seeing the bowl, Helen seemed to look surprised that she hadn't eaten yet. Shaking her head, Mom stepped out of the way, letting Violet pass with the bowl. "Oh, and Violet?" Turning her head back, Violet stared at her mother. "Have fun with your friends today. I'm glad to see you getting along with them so well."

"H-h-how did you know about that?" She didn't mention Hiccup when she came home last night. In fact, she had tried to sneak back in so she wasn't even seen. Turning invisible really came in handy for things like that, even if her powers didn't affect her clothes.

Smiling, Mom walked by and ruffled her hair gently. "A girl doesn't stay out that late at night unless she's met a boy. So, I take it things are going well with Tony? Has he finally gotten used to your schedule?" Sitting at the table with her, Mom seemed to smile pleasantly and wait for an answer. Dash made a gagging noise as her ex-boyfriend was brought up, while Dad seemed to be trying to ignore the conversation by keeping his nose in the paper.

"Um…not really." Looking at her bowl, Violet quickly took a bite to try and muffle her words. "MmhIkrthinkmhebrrkmrupwifthmrfe." Her mom stared at her, almost glaring.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Violet. Now, what was that again?

Swallowing, Violet let her spoon rest on the table and sighed. "I said I think he broke up with me." That made her Mom blink, staring at her in surprise. Even Dad looked surprised, dropping his paper to stare at her.

"Wait, he broke up with you?" Dad looked angry now, glaring as he gestured towards his daughter. "What is wrong with that guy? I thought we had gotten passed the hole mind-wipe deal, and now this?"

"Bob, calm down. I don't think you're helping." Mom put a hand on his arm, while Dad only scowled. Slamming a fist onto the table, his teeth gritted together.

"I don't care if it isn't helping, I'm going to give that boy a piece of my mind. No one goes around hurting our daughter because of a few scheduling issues." He looked ready to go hunting Tony down, and that was not something Violet wanted to see.

Quickly reaching out towards him, Violet grabbed his arm. "Dad, stop it! It's alright…I think I met someone new." A light blush covered her cheeks as she bit her lip. Sure, it was kinda weird, but Hiccup had his own charms too. He was sweet, and there was also the way he had somehow known she was having nightmares. The way he seemed to understand her so well made her feel…well, cared for. "Nothing has happened, though, and I don't want _any_ of you getting involved. Just…let me figure out what I want first, okay?"

Having her family get involved would be a nightmare, especially with Toothless. Seeing a dragon might get a bit difficult for a family of Supers, especially if they confused the animal for a villain. Luckily for her, her parents shared a look, before Mom gave her a small smile. "Well, just take your time then, sweetie. We're here for you, whenever you need us." Nodding, Violet quickly tried to scarf down her cereal. She let her hair hide her face for now, not wanting her parents, of all people, to ask about her romantic interests right now. Really, it was just another stupid crush. It would probably go away with the next cute boy she saw at school anyway.

Finished with breakfast, Violet rushed out the door to get to school. She really didn't want to deal with more drama in the house today, and the more time went on, the more she found herself drifting off into distracted thoughts. Yesterday, she'd met a cat with super powers. Hiccup had a pet…that was a Super. She didn't quite know what to say about that, but she couldn't stop smiling at the thought. He just might be more accepting of an unusual lifestyle than Tony had been, if that was the case. Though, it wasn't like she could just tell him the truth either. Secret identities were really a pain. Sighing, Violet took her seat as the bell rang, trying to force herself to focus as her first class of the day began. It was a challenge, since her schedule just had to start with pre-calc this year. More droning on about math was the last thing she wanted to think about, and gradually, her studious notes shifted to mindless doodles of Toothless, both as a cat and a dragon.

She was smiling softly, before her smile faded as the green eyes of Toothless made her mind think of the eyes of the villain from her dream last night. The oddest things would bring recollections of those dreams back. Now, thinking about those dreams brought new thoughts as well. Another Super in town knew what was going on. Well, someone with powers at least did. That Super…thought the dreams were being caused by someone. Yet, she couldn't figure out what anyone had to gain by it. If her entire family was affected, she'd assume someone had figured out their identities and was targeting the local Supers that fought criminals. Exhausted heroes did tend to be weaker opponents, after all. Yet, it was just her having these nightmares. So, it was a personal issue, not anything as generic as going against Supers as a whole.

Violet still couldn't imagine what she had done to get on anyone's bad side recently. Sure, she'd kinda bailed out on Tony for a few dates, but he'd never really been the kind of guy to get angry over it. Even when he said they wouldn't be going out anymore, he'd been polite and tried to seem understanding about things. Then, she had to shake her head and nearly groaned out loud. What was she even thinking? Tony wasn't a Super. He was just a normal kid, with normal problems like everyone else in this school. Violet alone was the weird one, with weird problems because of her Super powers and her family. Despite loving how she could help others with them, things like this really made her hate being a Super alongside of all the rest of the drama that came with school.

The ringing bell only helped further that thought process, making her snap out of her thoughts and realize she'd been tuning out the entire class. The process seemed to repeat in her next one too, leaving Violet in somewhat of a daze for the day. When she was called on in class, she kept embarrassing herself by mumbling under her breath and asking for the question to be repeated. It got even worse when her lack of an answer only proved her lack of focus too. It felt like everyone was watching her with every wrong answer, and by the time lunch came around, she just wanted to go sit in a corner away from everyone and hide from the world.

Sighing, once Violet had her lunch she figured she might at least do something close to that. After her lack of focus all day, she'd need to catch back up on all the material she'd been tuning out. So, she found a small empty table in the corner of the cafeteria, planning on eating alone while looking over her work. She didn't really expect to be bothered, but of course she was proved wrong. "Ah, there you are, lass! I was hoping to catch you at school today." Blinking, Violet glanced up and caught a glance of Merida's fiery red curls. She was grinning, sitting down next to Violet like she owned the table and preparing to dig into her food. "See, I've been having this wee little problem at home, and I was hoping you might be able to help out. Three little devils keep going through my stuff and I can't focus on my work with them around! You've got to let me work at your house so I can have some peace and quiet for a change."

Blinking, Violet stared at the girl. When exactly had they become friends? Sure, she'd somewhat tried being social with Merida yesterday…but maybe she thought she'd made a fool out of herself. Maybe Merida didn't think so, though, with the way she was acting. "Um…I'm sorry, what was that again?" Closing her text book, Violet focused on Merida. She figured she'd heard her right, but it just felt weird that Merida was inviting herself over so suddenly. "I think I missed something in there. Because I thought you were asking if you could—"

"Come on, Violet, what did you not catch?" She glared at Violet, shaking her head. Sighing, she seemed to think for a moment, before leaning close with a grin. "Tell you what. If you let me study at your house, just for today…I'll bring my bow and we can start those lessons I promised you. Didn't you mention wanting to learn a thing or two about archery?"

"I don't exactly have a set up at my house for that…"

"Bah, who needs that? If you've got a tree, or even a decent bush, you've got something to aim at lass."

Blinking, Violet slowly found herself giving Merida a timid smile. "I guess." It didn't seem very environmentally friendly to do that, but she had a point. Plus, wasn't that the main image in her nightmares anyway? She was weak, and she relied too much on her powers. Maybe learning a weapon of some kind could be helpful…though bows were a little outdated. Sighing, she realized it wouldn't hurt either way. "I'll have to check with my parents, but I can't say I'd object. Though, I'm kinda surprised you asked me about this. We haven't really talked much around school, and I thought you were better friends with Anna than you were with me…"

Snorting, Merida crossed her arms over her chest. "I can be friends with whoever I want to be, and after your embarrassing stunt yesterday, plus your snarky answers in class today, I'm starting to think you might be more adventurous than you seemed." What snarky answers? Blinking, Violet thought back to today, groaning as she realized she probably had instinctively said something ridiculous that others thought was a joke.

"I'm not really that interesting, Merida. Really…I just can't focus today."

"You too, huh?" Merida shook her head, pointing with her fork towards a familiar blond that seemed to be looking far less energetic today. She was another new student, Rapunzel if she remembered correctly. "I heard Rapunzel over there was falling asleep in class. She told me she was having some nasty dreams last night and couldn't get some decent rest like usual."

Blinking, she stared at the girl with wide eyes. "Bad dreams, huh?"

Merida nodded, leaning forward. "Aye. She's got some trouble in her past, and that little idiot doesn't realize that we can't help her if she doesn't talk about it. Either that, or she just assumes we can read her mind or something ridiculous like that."

Was this the real reason for her bad mood? Violet glanced over at Merida, seeing her picking at her food with a sigh. Rapnuzel seemed to move closer to their table, surprising Violet yet again. "Merida! There you are. Please, save me from today…"

"Oi, get off me lass." Rapunzel had practically fallen over onto Merida's shoulder, looking ready to collapse. Not far behind her, Hiccup seemed to be joining them, taking a seat on the other side of Violet with a nod. "I get that you want to sleep, but you got to at least try to stay awake in class! Either that, or learn to hide your sleeping like the rest of us."

"But I can't…" She shuddered slightly, looking down at the table. "It was just one bad dream after another…they wouldn't stop at all…"

"And I told you that it wasn't worth getting all worked up over them." Hiccup shook his head. "Bad dreams are't reality, Rapunzel." Wait, they knew each other? Violet glanced at him, seeing him sigh. "Anyway, that wasn't exactly what I wanted to focus on…"

Rapunzel blinked wearily, before nodding and smiling. "Right! You wanted to talk more about Jack, right?"

For a moment, Violet thought they were talking about her baby brother, which was absurd. Then again, the toddler could walk through walls. What had the baby done now? "Kinda. I mean, you said the dreams didn't stop after you went back home last night, right?" Rapunzel nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. "Then I think that only supports the claim that this Jack wasn't lying. Something around town is trying to give people bad dreams…though exactly why is uncertain."

"Are you saying there's some new Super with the power to give people nightmares?" Merida glanced at him, before shaking her head. "Kinda a lame power, if you ask me. I mean, if you consider someone like Mr. Incredible in comparison, it really isn't even a contest as to who would win. Punch in the face, or bad dreams? Seriously, dreams are nothing to deal with at all."

"You're only saying that because you haven't had these dreams!" Rapunzel glared at her, actually looking angry for a change. Then, she bit her bottom lip, leaning back and closing her eyes. "Sorry. Only one night and look at me…I'm already a mess."

"Like I said, just forget about them. If we focus on why this is actually happening instead, we might be able to stop them for a change." Violet wasn't certain how she felt about his intrigue in getting involved in this. If this nightmare giver really was a Super, it wasn't something Hiccup could handle as a normal person. "I haven't seen Jack all day, so I'm guessing he really is busy with other stuff, but that doesn't mean we can't try and find answers on our own. He said he wasn't allowed to help us much—"

"Sorry to interrupt, but who's this Jack you keep mentioning? And if you keep insisting that a few bad dreams means we have a new villain without a decent response, I swear I'm just going to leave right now." Merida glared at them with her arms over her chest. "It makes no sense! Seriously, bad dreams are normal. Everyone has them, so what makes Rapunzel so different?"

"What makes this different is that someone told me these dreams aren't natural." Hiccup glanced over at Violet, scratching the back of his head. "Remember yesterday, Violet? When you met Toothless?" She nodded, thinking back to the Super only Hiccup had been able to see. "Violet and I ran into someone weird the other day…someone who really isn't supposed to talk to us, or help us at all actually. He's…not exactly a Super, and neither is the guy that's giving out nightmares either. Uh…well, see…" He trailed off, staring at the table. "It's hard to explain, and if I really told you the truth, I doubt you'd believe me. I mean, it's crazy…all of this is."

" _I_ didn't see or hear anyone. All I saw was some weird…snow powers or something." Violet looked away, staring at her food. "Hiccup is the one that started talking to no one."

"Aww, don't be like that Violet." Rapunzel grinned at her, leaning forward. "I think Hiccup is on to something. Plus, isn't it just amazing to think about? Jack Frost is actually real! It makes you wonder about who else actually exists…" She trailed off, before her eyes went wide. "Do you think they're all real? Like, the stories about the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny…all of them? That has got to be it! Magic really is out there, and Hiccup just got so lucky to meet—"

"Oi, calm down for a second, lass!" Merida interrupted Rapunzel's rant, making the blond blink at her in surprise. "Slow down and let me get this straight. You two are saying that you've actually met a fairy tale character?"

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "Uh…yes?" Merida stared at him, and Hiccup dropped his hand back to the table. "Look, I get it sounds crazy. But…I also grew up surrounded by crazier things. This town is filled with people who have super powers and fight super villains. Really, how much of a stretch is it to say that spirits might be real?"

"And if we believe in them, do you think we'll see them too?" Rapunzel stared at Hiccup, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "Please! I really want to meet him too. After all, if he has magic, and these dreams are magic, he can make them go away, right?"

This was treading into nothing but fantasy. Violet was watching them, listening, but she didn't know what to say. Hiccup claimed Jack Frost was real. Had she even heard stories about Jack Frost? She thought his name was mentioned in some Christmas song, but that was all she could think of. There had to be some other explanation. Really, Violet knew there were some pretty unbelievable things in the world, but this was too much. If it was magic, it wouldn't be so personal, after all. She didn't _know_ anyone with magic, so how could they know her? Whoever sent those nightmares knew her deepest fears, and that meant it was someone she knew, even if she wouldn't admit it. "Maybe. I didn't get the chance to ask about that, actually."

"Right." Merida was staring him down, shaking her head. "And I thought my mum was crazy with all her talk about wisps and fate. This has her topped by a long shot." She stared them down, before focusing on Rapunzel. "Look…Rapunzel, I get that you want to believe in this, but we have to face reality. If you're having these dreams, it means something to you. Focus on yourself, and think about why you're afraid. Then, go out and fight to change those fears. Only then will they go away."

It sounded reasonable, but Violet felt cold at those words. Face those fears? Violet thought back to the dreams, where she saw herself as a super villain rather than the hero she was trying to be. Merida was probably expecting Rapunzel to answer, but Violet found herself speaking quietly before the blond could reply. "Sometimes, they aren't fears that are easy to face." Hiccup glanced over at her, blinking in surprise. Even Merida paused, frowning, but she didn't say anything else. Quickly, Violet grabbed her tray and rose to her feet. She didn't want to think about her nightmares, and she didn't want to try and blame it on some magic that wasn't real. Ignoring whatever else they had to say, she stormed off to throw away her garbage and get back to class. It didn't matter if she was early, or if she couldn't focus for a very different reason now than earlier. No, she needed to be by herself to think and try and figure out exactly why she thought she had the potential to be a villain in the first place.

 **Happy new year everyone! I'm planning on staying busy today with updates for a few stories, and hopefully posting the first chapter of a new Fairy Tail fic as well (if anyone reading this story is interested that is). Feel free to review and tell me what you think!**


	11. Chapter 11

With Pitch active again, Jack knew he really should get the Guardians involved. However, the same issue still remained. He'd spent his entire day pretty much flying around back and forth, his mind indecisive on whether to go to North or not. Already, he could hear what they'd say. North would tell him he was imagining things, and that if Pitch was involved, he'd have 'felt it in his belly'. The guy relied way to much on some extra sixth sense, and even if he didn't. Bunny would just argue about how Jack was arguing because of Jaimie's lack of belief. He hadn't exactly been calm about the situation, despite their refusal to help. Yet…it still was Pitch, targeting people and causing fear that didn't belong. Sighing, Jack slowed down his pace and turned around once more. Again, the cycle continued. He really needed to make up his mind, or at least find something to do.

Once he'd gotten to the northern edges of Canada, Jack found himself turning back around once more. He'd take care of this on his own. Maybe it wasn't technically a problem for the Guardians, but it really should be. They helped protect people, right? Jack figured the only person who might be on is side with this one would be Tooth anyway, so it wasn't like he'd have a whole lot of help even if they did believe him. So, with the majority of the day wasted, he returned to the town where he'd managed to do the impossible and gain the belief of a teenager. He hadn't been able to stop grinning after the guy left, realizing it was possible after all. Technically, he'd cheated, but it wasn't like the Guardians would find out. Rules were stupid anyway, and he'd tried for three hundred years to follow them and gain belief with little luck. So, why not try something different for a change?

Laughing, Jack spun around in the air, diving down towards the ground. He was throwing out the rules anyway in this case. Pitch was not going to get away with this. After all, Jaimie was a teenager now, which meant Pitch would be targeting him again if Jack did nothing. Even if the kid wasn't seeing him anymore, he owed Jaimie more than the boy had ever realized. Determined to still protect him, despite the loss of his friend, Jack found himself searching the town for any sign of Pitch again. Immediately, he went to that weird mansion on the edge of town, where Violet lived. He hovered near the window, listening to voices from the room inside.

"Did your brothers really steal your text books?"

"Aye. The wee devils thought they could hold it over my head and make me eat their vegetables for the week!" A strong accent came through from the second voice, making Jack frown as he glanced inside and saw Violet sitting with a friend. They had text books scattered in front of them, and seemed to be focused on work. "So, I told my mum I'd be gone for the night until she did something about it." She huffed, scowling at her work. "Not that it'll change anything anyway. Mum only has things to say about what _I_ do wrong. My brothers are saints in her eyes."

"Well, I'm sure she cares…in her own way." Violet seemed to sigh, focusing on her work for a moment. "Parents tend to be strict, after all. At least she isn't prying into your personal life. My parents were practically forcing me to talk about my school life this morning, among other things. Sometimes, I wish they'd just…stop and let me deal with it my own way. I mean, I can handle this, right? What makes them think that I have to tell them every little detail of my life?"

"Exactly. You and I, we're the ones in control of what we do, and when we choose to do it. I say screw our parents, and let's go have an adventure together instead!"

Rolling her eyes, Violet laughed at that and shook her head. "Like that'll work out. I mean, ignoring the fact that we can't exactly survive as runaways, it sounds like our parents are both crazy enough to hunt us down before we made it across the street."

It sounded like she was enjoying herself. Smiling, Jack wondered if maybe the dreams had stopped for a moment. Pitch didn't seem like the kind of guy to move on so quickly, but it wasn't impossible. Yet, that was when he looked closer at Violet, seeing her rub the back of her neck with a frown after her laughter faded. "That's why we've got to learn to run, lass. You need to get active more, try doing something other than study and read all the time. Filling your brain with facts does nothing if you don't go out and enjoy life for a change!"

"Maybe I don't really want to go out and do things." She mumbled under her breath, making Jack grow still. His smile faded, studying her closely. That wasn't the kind of attitude he expected from her. "Right now…I've got too much going on, really. Tony just dumped me, there's that test in biology coming up, and I've gotta start looking for some classic coming-of-age novel for that book report we were assigned in English."

"And you've gotta work with Hiccup on hunting down fairies too, right?" The red-head seemed to grin at that, like it was a joke. However, Violet seemed to frown, wrapping her arms around her chest.

"Something like that." She glanced towards the window, almost looking directly at Jack. After a moment, she got up and walked towards it, pulling it open and sticking her head outside. Jack leaned away, hovering in the air as she leaned out the window. "I still can't believe what he managed to get Rapunzel to believe. I mean, I knew she was homeschooled, but does she really think things like that are…real?"

"From what she's told me, she's been lied to a lot growing up. The lass doesn't know what is right or wrong, and just follows her heart." The red-head walked over towards Violet, abandoning her work as well. "To be honest, I can't blame her for that. In fact, I…I envy her, for how openly she can admit things like that. If one of us went around saying that fairy tales were real, we'd be laughed at by the entire school. That alone probably keeps us from even considering it." Sighing, the girl glanced at Violet, studying the Super carefully. "Though…it seems like you're thinking about it a bit harder than I thought. After your comment at lunch too, it makes me wonder if—"

"Don't say it!" Violet interrupted, leaning back abruptly and holding a hand out to her friend. "Just…don't. I'd rather not think about it. Ever." Staring at her, Jack realized these dreams were taking a heavy toll on her. With the space somewhat free, he found himself flying into the room, landing and leaning against the wall to watch them talk. "Merida…do you ever have issues with…I don't know, self-confidence?"

Violet seemed to cringe at her own question, shrugging her shoulders and giving Merida an odd smile. "Well, there are always times when we all doubt ourselves, Violet. You…have something you want to talk about? Get off your chest?"

"I…really don't think that's the issue." Violet walked back to her bed, sitting down and pulling her hair behind her shoulder. "It's…maybe that's the wrong word. Not self-confidence exactly, but self-image maybe?" Violet paused again, shaking her head. "I just…there's something weird, about my dreams. Something I'm afraid of that I really shouldn't be worried about…unless I really think I'm…" She trailed off, and Jack was realizing where this came from.

"Oh no…" He watched her, seeing the drained expression on her face and knowing it all too well. "Come on, Violet. Snap out of this!" Yet, she seemed to be drooping slightly, while Merida tried to talk to her more about facing her fear and moving past it to something new if it made no sense. Ignoring the red-head, Jack instead tried for a distraction. If she focused too much on her fear, Pitch would be drawn back to this place along with his nightmares. So, thinking back to his earlier decision, he grinned and held out his hand. Snow began to pool in it, and he swiftly threw a snowball at the unsuspecting girl, interrupting whatever Merida had been saying.

The red-head stopped, blinking in surprise as Violet spun around from the collision. "Hey!" She blinked, rising to her feet before inhaling deeply. "Wait…you're the person from before! And you're… _in my room?_ How did you even get here? Do you think it is okay to just break into someone's house? Get out! I don't want you here! For all I know, you're the one doing this to me! After all, have you heard anyone else randomly knowing about the nightmares I've told no one about? No! So, it must be you, right? It must be…" She was breathing heavily, her words slowing down as her arm shook in the air. Slowly, she dropped it to her side, her head hanging low. Merida walked towards her, placing hands on her shoulders tensely.

"You all right, lass? I saw the snow, and if I didn't know about that story of yesterday, I'd think I was going crazy."

Violet slowly began to nod, inhaling deeply. "Yeah…yeah. I'm fine." She inhaled deeply. looking up and staring around her room. "Merida…do you think Hiccup might be right? That this…town might have something supernatural going on? Like, oh, spirits, magic…not-super-power-related problems?"

"Unless you can think of a better explanation for it…randomly starting to snow in your room." Merida pointed above Jack, where the winter spirit really had begun a tiny flurry in the room. He wanted attention, and they were so close to believing already. Just a slight nudge would get them there, he thought. "Bloody hell…it really is snowing in your room, lass. If that ain't magic, I don't know what is." She frowned, gazing into the air. "Maybe your friend was right. Maybe all the stories we've heard…are real."

Staring into the spot where Jack remained, Violet remained still. Jack shifted, jumping up tp perch himself on his staff instead, bored with waiting but uncertain of what to do. He needed to talk to Violet. The girl needed to understand what those dreams were, so she'd know how to fight back against them. However, that was when she let out a shriek, jumping back and scrambling onto her bed. Merida was staring at Jack with wide eyes, gasping and jumping, but not nearly moving away as rapidly as Violet. "Oh my god…there's someone in my room. There's really…oh my god."

Hearing her words, Jack slowly began to grin. "Violet? Is everything okay in there?" Jack heard a female call down the hall, making him laugh and shake his head.

"Oops. Sorry, didn't mean to get you in trouble." He glanced back at Violet nervously, tilting his head. "You see me now, right?"

Violet nodded weakly, taking in deep breaths before shouting in response to her mom. "Yeah…everything's great, Mom!" She took another deep breath, while Merida stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, now that you've had your fun of scaring us, give me one good reason why I shouldn't return the favor."

Blinking at her, Jack shrugged. "Go ahead. Actually, it might be fun to see if you could manage it." He walked towards her, hopping down from his staff and spinning it by his side. "I mean, there really isn't a whole lot I'm afraid of these days." He'd already lost Jaimie, and he didn't have many other people to care for. He was alone again, and while the Guardians definitely helped, it wasn't nearly the life Jack wanted.

"Are you saying I can't pull a good prank when I want to? Because that's just asking for trouble."

"Not at all." Jack leaned against the wall, studying her closely. "What I'm saying is that you just can't pull one on me, since that kind of thing really is my specialty, being the Guardian of Fun and all that."

"Guardian of Fun? So…you just run around annoying people all day for entertainment then?" Merida stepped closer. "Does that usually involve breaking into strangers' homes?"

"Uh…sometimes?" Jack backed away, turning towards Violet instead. The other teenager seemed to be calming down, her breaths slowing down and now just listening in to the conversation in her room. "But that's really not the point. I'm already kinda going about things the wrong way here…however, I needed to talk to Violet, in person."

"About this magical nightmare inducing guy?"

Jack nodded at Merida, focused on Violet. "Yeah. About that." He rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of where to start. This was exactly like with Hiccup, where he just couldn't figure out how to talk about Pitch without growing more fear. "See…they aren't regular nightmares. There's this guy—"

"Do you really think I'm going to just believe that?" Violet stared at him, swallowing. "My dreams…you don't know what they've been like. Whoever is doing this…they _know_ me. Know me better than I know myself…"

Seeing her, Jack hesitated. Maybe…maybe she was like he had been. When he'd first met Pitch, he thought he could deal with it on his own after all. Then, Pitch just went and showed him exactly how afraid he had always been, broadcasting the fears he denied even having. "He kinda surprised me like that too." That seemed to make her blink, staring up at him.

"He…gave you nightmares before?"

Biting his lip, Jack shook his head. "Uh…not exactly. Spirits can't exactly affect each other in the same way we can affect…normal people. Some powers work on each other, while others don't." After all, he hadn't really been able to get Bunny in a playful mood with his snow, no matter how much magic he tried to pack into his snowballs.

"Then don't lie and say you know what it's like."

He saw her glare, while Merida was growing quiet, listening in. Jack stepped forward, sitting on the bed and smiling faintly. "Fine, I won't. But…it still doesn't mean I can't understand why it bothers you so much. It's like…he's seen something in you that you never wanted to know. That you never wanted to focus on in the first place…and he's twisted it, twisted it into something you hate even more than you would have if you'd come to see it yourself first."

His longing for family, to be seen, had been Pitch's target for so long. The man had tried to use it against him, to get Jack to be…like Pitch. "And how do you suggest ignoring that then? Because I can't stop thinking about those dreams. I can't stop, and I'm beginning to think they aren't going away. Merida laughed at this at lunch, laughed at how easy it is to just shrug of a dream. A lame power…but right now? I'm starting to wonder if it's stronger than it seems."

"Merida has the right mindset, then." He glanced at the girl, who rolled her eyes.

"Dreams are rather pointless to get all worked up over. It's not like they're real, after all."

"You wouldn't say that…not if you had dreams like these." Violet shuddered, glancing over at him. "Can…can you stop them?"

Looking at her, Jack hesitated. Maybe he really should have gone to the Pole after all. Sandy might be able to reverse it, for those that couldn't figure out how to fix their dreams on their own. "It…dreams aren't really my thing to deal with. I'm—"

"Then why even offer to help? If you can't do anything but talk…if you're just going to break in, ramble on about how well you know this person attacking, why come?" Violet shook her head. "I don't need someone telling me what I already know. I know I'm afraid. I know I can't see this person targeting me and my friends." Wait, her friends? Jack stared at her, wondering how far Pitch had spread his magic. "If you aren't going to help, you can just leave. After all, aren't you breaking some rules talking to us?"

He was. All of the rules he'd been taught since becoming a Guardian, he was abandoning them to try and fix this now. Yet, was that a mistake? Thinking back to Jaimie's smile, he swallowed. He wanted Jaimie back, to talk to and ask about all of this. What would his first believer do? He couldn't fix this on his own. He couldn't do anything…but then he stiffened. He hadn't had thoughts like that since the last battle with Pitch. Really, losing Jaimie and now this…he was starting to feel even worse than he did that Easter, when he'd nearly been responsible for the complete collapse of the Guardians.

Violet had grown quiet, and Merida seemed to stare at him. Jack was breathing in slowly, staring at the staff in his hands and focusing only on what it felt like in his grip. "Because…I don't want you to be alone like I was." He was quiet, and Violet seemed to look up at that. "I watch over everyone when they're kids, Violet…I _know_ all of you here. At some point in time, I've played with you while growing up, even if you never realized it. And now…now I'm trying to do what I can. Fear makes him stronger, Violet. If you keep letting yourself become terrified of sleeping, the nightmares will come on their own to you, without him needed to tell them where to go."

"And…who exactly are we talking about?" Merida glanced at him. "Because if we're getting ready to face some supernatural creature, I'd at least like to have an idea of what I'm up against."

Jack didn't want them to know. If they knew, they'd be able to see him. "Belief means you can see him. Hear him." Jack paused, looking away. "If you think his nightmares are bad, you don't know the least of what he can pull off. Trust me, you don't want to listen to a thing he has to say."

"You talk like you're afraid of him."

"I'm afraid of what he'll do to this place, if he gets what he wants." Jack wasn't going to lie. Facing Pitch in a fight didn't bother him at all, but in something like this? Jack had nothing to target, and no idea on how to stop him. Pitch wasn't the kind of person to continuously grown afraid of his own self. His own power wouldn't overwhelm him…but maybe these kids had something he didn't. Why was it that the Guardians never fought to get the belief of adults anyway? "And just maybe…we might be able to stop him. He's targeting you because my friends and I are only supposed to focus on kids…kids young enough to believe in us." He glanced over at them. "But you guys? You have an advantage they don't. You can see me, and that means I can start working on a plan of some kind."

"I don't have time to deal with some fight like this! I've already got—" Violet broke off, glancing at Merida sharply.

Smiling, Jack nodded. "I know. But, that doesn't mean you can just run from this either." He turned around, focusing on Violet. "So, what is it going to be? If you really want me to leave, I can, but it won't stop what he's doing. I can't say I have any solid plan, and I really have no idea how to pull this off, but I want to stop him. It's my job, even if everyone else says it isn't."

"I'd say it's time we expanded our little team into something…incredible." Grinning at her subtle hint, he took her hand and chuckled. Letting go, he moved towards the window, figuring it was late enough. He needed to figure out what Pitch was up to tonight, and try and figure out who else was having nightmares around town. "And Jack?" He paused, glancing back at Violet. "About your fears…when he targeted you. How'd you move past it?"

Jack froze, thinking back. He was just as lonely now as he was then. Yet, he knew the truth now, didn't he? Pitch had been wrong to claim it would last forever. He'd gotten those years with Jaimie, and now, he was making new friends here. "He said that there was something in my future I was afraid of facing, that there was no way I'd ever avoid it." He didn't want to push too much, to make her afraid of how much Pitch could see into emotions as well as her personal choices. "I proved him wrong."

She stared at him, taking a deep breath and slowly smiling. "Well…I guess that just might actually work out to be something I can do." He nodded, watching as she yawned. "Merida, I think I'm going to get some sleep. You're welcome to stay over. After all, I did kinda agree to let you stick around until you finished your homework." Which, based on the lack of organization in the room, had not been finished. Jack chuckled, watching as Merida scoffed, blaming her distraction on Violet before returning to work. Taking off out the window and into the sky, he gave them a quick nod before flying off. Things just might be looking up for her, if his words got through to her. Maybe he could make a difference with small things like this. He just needed to get them all to see him first, and then show them how to focus on something other than their fear in the future.

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	12. Chapter 12

Well, talking to Violet yesterday had gone just great. As Hiccup got ready to hear those girls shouting at him for being crazy for a second day in a row, he sighed. Really, he knew he should have come up with something else. Jack Frost is real? Like anyone would believe that. Even he was having a hard time believing it, and he'd seen the winter spirit in person. Maybe it was just his luck, though. After all, he was the one who just had to be different. He was willing to believe in the insane and the crazy, so that made him the perfect candidate to believe in something this ridiculous. Now, he was going to lose the single friend he'd managed to make in less than a week.

Walking into his first class, Hiccup took a seat. They'd finally sorted out his placement tests and everything, but his schedule ended up being weird, to say the least. His work in Gobber's forge had definitely given him a head start in physics and math, but for history and english? He was still at pretty much freshman level. The office had to do some weird work with his schedule to make it work, but Hiccup was basically given credit for his science courses. Instead, they'd doubled him up on history, and placed him in the english class for his grade, telling him he'd have to study on his own to catch up and re-take the placement exam at the end of the year to show he'd caught up with his peers. If that wasn't enough, there was still math, which happened to place him in the pre-calc course at the start of the day.

Sitting at a desk in the room, Hiccup gazed idly out the window. He was early, sure, but it still felt weird being in an empty room without other students. Slowly, they joined him, and Hiccup began passing his time doodling a picture of Toothless in his notebook. He'd just managed to finish the last details on his face when a familiar voice spoke up in front of him. "Well, I guess you do have some talent there. I didn't expect you to be so focused on drawing something you were terrified to let anyone see." Glancing up, Hiccup blinked in surprise at the sight of Jack Frost leaning over his desk, spying on his doodle of Toothless. The winter spirit was smiling faintly, glancing over at Hiccup as he seemed to get comfortable in the classroom.

Making sure he was still alone, Hiccup sighed. "Well, it's not like this actually is him or anything." He set his pencil down, glancing over at the spirit. "If anyone sees this, they're not going to assume I actually have seen a dragon, much less that they might actually exist. A drawing like this is harmless."

"Whatever you say." Jack shrugged, leaning back and walking towards the window. "Oh…and thanks, by the way. For talking to the others about me." Hiccup blinked, watching as Jack rubbed at the back of his head. His fingers tangled in his white hair, hovering there for a moment as he spoke. "With everything going on, I really don't think I would have been able to handle it. People like them…or I guess anyone your age, really, don't usually believe so easily."

Snorting, Hiccup shook his head. "Yeah, because everything says you shouldn't exist." Jack turned around at that, frowning at him. "Ever heard of science? Physics? Heck, even simple logic?" The winter spirit still seemed to be frowning, not looking amused.

"I'm not that stupid. Kids hang out in school, and as boring as it is, that means I join them to make sure they enjoy their recess properly."

Hiccup really didn't get what that had to do with anything, but he just moved on. "Well, science gives us rules for the world to follow. Flying people? Magic? None of it should really exist. Even Supers are borderline impossibilities, but at least evolution gives some standpoint for powers like that to start developing."

"And how exactly is magic different from super powers?"

Hiccup opened his mouth, pausing for a moment. How were they different? Yet, as he looked away, it came to him. "Because magic makes it impossible to see you it seems."

"That's only because most people don't want to believe we're real." Jack shook his head, sighing. "But…that's not really what I came here to talk about anyway. Whether I'm seen or not shouldn't be the focus on anyone's mind right now." He glanced over at Hiccup, pausing for a moment. "More people are having nightmares, and Violet is getting worse. At this rate, he just might be well on his way to getting what he's always wanted."

Again, he was talking vaguely about those nightmares. Hiccup looked at his desk, frowning for a moment in response. Like everyone else around him, it seemed like his dreams were being affected too. He'd gotten used to having dreams about his father lately, but last night had been different. Last night, the dream had flipped on him, showing him Toothless instead. Someone had stolen him away, and when Hiccup went to rescue him…Toothless had turned on him. His best friend had wanted nothing to do with him, and lashed out to make sure he never left his new home. Hiccup had been left alone, with his old friends blaming him and saying he'd been a failure for even thinking the dragons would be their friends. Then, he'd woken up and realized it was probably the same thing Rapunzel and Violet had gone through.

With Hiccup's silence, Jack seemed to narrow his eyes. "I'm going to guess you've realized the same thing?" Hiccup kept gazing at his desk, focusing on the details of Toothless' face in his notebook. "Or are you having them too now?" Slowly, he began to nod. However, he didn't expect Jack to really react much. The winter spirit seemed to stay still, growing silent and glaring at the window for a moment. Hiccup glanced up at him, opening his mouth to try and say it really wasn't a big deal, however, that was when he moved. His staff swung forward, and a blast of wind and snow seemed to shoot forward, shoving the single chair and desk in front of Hiccup into the wall across the room. Jack breathed heavily, glaring at the wall, while Hiccup leaned back in his desk, blinking rapidly. Students outside paused, glancing in the room after hearing the noise. One even walked inside hesitantly, glancing around before starting to return the desk and chair to where it belonged.

That student lingered taking a seat while Jack seemed to take another deep breath. "Damn him. Damn Pitch…why is he even doing this, now of all times? Right when I lose him…when he's the right age to…" Jack trailed off, while Hiccup frowned at the name. It was the first time Jack mentioned it, this Pitch. Who was he exactly? He couldn't remember any stories from Berk about a spirit by that name. Jack shook his head again, before turning towards Hiccup with a frown. "Are _you_ okay? I just talked to Violet a bit about all of this…but with how quickly this is spreading, I need to figure something out fast."

"I'm good, really." Hiccup forced a smile, holding out his hands. One of the students shot him an odd look, so he quickly dropped his gaze, focusing on his desk instead. "Erm…I meant…yeah." He laughed nervously, realizing his chance to talk was probably gone. Too many people were in the room with class about to start, and Jack seemed to notice this, sighing loudly and moving towards Hiccup. The winter spirit took a seat on Hiccup's desk, making the brunette lean back and scowl in response. What exactly did this spirit think he was supposed to do with him there?

"Good. That's…good." Jack stared up at the ceiling, leaning back with a frown. "Sorry, I really don't mean to make things difficult here for you. I get it, I'm invisible…so you can't really talk. But…are you okay with me talking? I kinda feel like I should explain a few things…I tried with Violet last night, but didn't get very far. She's probably been the most affected person yet around here, after all."

Slowly, Hiccup nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes flickered over towards the clock, seeing that there was still about fifteen minutes before school actually began. The other students in the room began to work on some kind of school work, now that Hiccup was quiet, and others continued hanging out in the halls while they had the chance before classes began. "Thanks. I wasn't certain how you'd feel about it…Jaimie got annoyed if I tried talking to him at school, at least he did towards the end. He…didn't like the way other kids talked to him, if he responded on accident."

Chuckling, Hiccup stared at Jack and gave him a half-grin. "Well, I'm kinda used to being the outcast around others. I don't typically fit in all that well." Again, it probably sounded odd, but it seemed like the winter spirit needed someone to talk to. Just like before, there was something lost in those blue eyes of his, and Jack's smiles didn't seem to be all that happy when he gave them.

The winter spirit nodded, swinging his legs as they hung over the edge of the desk. "Can't say I'm surprised, really. I mean, you were the one who actually believed in spirits enough to actually see me." Hiccup ignored that comment, while Jack slowly began to grin. "Though you still don't know the others…makes me wonder how strange you really are, kid." Hiccup shrugged, while Jack glanced at the window. "Either way…I'm getting distracted again. That's kinda a bad habit of mine, thinking about anything other than the actual problem…but I swear, I'm getting better at it! Trust me, I know this isn't something we can just ignore."

"They're just dreams. It isn't like they're the end of the world or anything." Hiccup glanced at the door, seeing another student enter. They were starting to learn to ignore him, and to at least try and look normal, he pulled out his phone and let it rest next to his ear. He could talk as much as he wanted, and at least make it look like he wasn't crazy.

Jack didn't seem to notice, with his gaze focused on the window yet again. "Maybe not. But…they can do more than you think." Jack seemed to pause again, before letting out a deep breath. "So…where to start?"

"Why not with exactly what we're dealing with? I mean, we can't exactly fix the problem if we don't know what's wrong in the first place."

The spirit glanced towards him, shrugging. "I'm not certain how much it'll help…he kinda gets stronger with belief. Like me, actually, and any other spirit." That was a weird power. Hiccup frowned, thinking about it further.

"Then…why not just explain what he can do? I mean, if I haven't heard of your other friends, I doubt I'll recognize this one based on the stuff he does."

"That…might work." Jack jumped to his feet, seeming to avoid staying still for too long. With his desk free, Hiccup leaned forward and watched the spirit walk around, with his staff dragging along the floor and making odd patterns of frost on the baseboards by the walls. "Well, you've figured out the nightmares at least. Those are kinda his specialty at the moment…courtesy of a different friend of mine who specializes in giving people any kind of dream. The guy we're dealing with though? He's all about fear. Making people afraid, bringing out their deepest fears…seeing exactly what they are, and making them focus on nothing but that fear…that's what he does. It's what he lives for, for the moments when he can add just that little extra bit of fear into anyone's life."

So, that explained why the dream was so weird. Losing his family was something Hiccup had gotten used to dealing with, though. That dream wasn't possible to be real. He'd known Hiccup wouldn't abandon him, after all. "Got it. So, we're fighting against our own fears basically?"

"Basically, yes. But…he's not going to give up that easily. He wants to be seen, to be believed in. Right now, he thinks his best option is to target people your age." Turning around, Jack stopped walking, leaning against his staff. "See, my friends and I have a job of protecting children…which I may or may not have explained before. You? You're too old to consider a child…but also still young enough to at least have a chance of believing. It isn't going to be easy for him, but he figures he has something to gain by making all of you afraid."

"And how exactly do you typically stop him? I mean, you did say he was an enemy of yours. It kinda implies you've fought him in the past too."

"We can't rely on that again." Jack didn't explain, looking out the window. "He's…not the kind of person, to make the same mistake twice. Last time, we only barely won. This time? He doesn't even have someone fighting against him. The Guardians won't help me, even if I wanted to tell them about the problem. No, right now, we're on our own. I was almost considering trying to get a few of the Supers on board with helping…but even that's a risk. They're not exactly immortal spirits, even if they do have—"

"Hold up, immortal?" Jack stopped, glancing at Hiccup. "As in…you can't die?"

"Technically, I'm already dead." Jack seemed to grin at that, as if it was a joke or something. "Though, that's kinda just my thing. We all got chosen at different points in our lives…my moment just happened to be as I died."

That wasn't exactly a pleasant thought. Staring at his desk, Hiccup frowned, considering the concept. "Uh…right." Really, it didn't matter if Jack was immortal or not. It didn't change a thing about what they were dealing with, after all. Another person walked in, but he didn't even glance up. It was likely getting close to time for class to start, and he still had no idea about what to do next. "So, basically…we need to convince this guy that his old plan was better? I mean, if he targets kids again, your own friends will help out and stop him like before."

"It's possible." Jack frowned, staring at his feet. Hiccup only just realized that the guy had no shoes, which was bizarre considering he brought snow and ice everywhere he went. "Not exactly the best of plans, since it still means someone is getting hurt…but I'll take it over nothing. Last time, we got out of it by having fun and ignoring him. Right now, he already is ignored and he isn't stopping. If he keeps giving the wrong people dreams like this…really, there's no telling what might happen."

"Well, I doubt it would be that bad."

"Hiccup…the last time I let this guy taunt me with my own fears, I nearly decided to just let myself be alone and freeze in the arctic. I ran away, and had every intention of staying at the bottom of that…" He broke off, looking away and taking a deep breath. "If it was possible, I likely would have thrown away everything right then and there. I destroyed everything. That was what he told me I'd always do…and what a part of me is still afraid I'll keep doing. For a kid to feel that way is one thing…they have parents to confide in, friends that make sure they keep moving forward. For you? From what I've seen, teenagers don't exactly talk to their parents when they need help, and high school is all about making the best impression, not actually making friends. It's different, and that makes you more alone…more willing to give in to thoughts like that. His nightmares? Maybe it isn't the same as talking to him, but it feeds the same place his words do. They'll tear you apart before you even realize you're losing, and from there…it's just a question of if you'll give into despair or embrace the fear first."

It wasn't an obvious attack, but Hiccup could somewhat see it. Whoever this enemy was had managed to make Jack suffer in the past. That much was clear. Yet, Jack wasn't saying many details. Thinking about his own dream, Hiccup frowned. If he kept seeing that…would he eventually stop trusting Toothless? Dreams might not be real, but that didn't mean they couldn't affect someone's mindset. He'd experienced that plenty of times back in Berk, when he'd felt like running from home because he kept imagining how much worse it would get when he couldn't bring himself to hunt down the super powered animals around them. "I guess you do have a point." He took a deep breath, glancing at Jack. "But that's exactly why we need to stop him. Don't worry, Jack. I'll…try talking to the others at lunch or something. Whatever is going on, we'll find a way to make him give up on us completely." Maybe, he could turn this against the guy somehow. Thinking about Jack's words, he slowly began to tilt his head. That actually might be exactly what he'd do. This guy wanted to be feared, to be feared more than anyone else in town. Maybe, he could find a way to steal away that spotlight, using the very weapon targeting them.

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**


	13. Chapter 13

Hiccup started it off by trying to get a message to the girls he'd been hanging out with. Violet was easy to get it to, since she ended up being in the same class as him for pre-calc. The others? Rapunzel was way too social for him to approach before she went to him. From what he had seen, she would bounce between groups, trying to talk to as many people at once as possible. As a result, he had to either embrace the fact that he'd be dealing with a crowd, or wait for her to be done with her friends…which didn't seem like it would happen any time soon. So, eventually, he'd interrupted her conversation with a small red-head named Anna, to ask her to meet him at his house after school. Lucius probably wouldn't mind, after all. He was going out with his adoptive mother today, since it was their supposed date night or something.

For Merida, he had asked Violet to invite the girl. It wasn't like Hiccup was good friends with her, since they'd really only spoken yesterday at lunch when he made a fool of himself. At least Violet seemed more eager to talk to him than she did yesterday. As nervous as she seemed, he'd take it over the same disbelief in his theory from before. Right now, he kinda needed more faith anyway, if they were going to have any chance of listening to his advice today.

Once classes ended, Hiccup got in the car with his adoptive father, ready to start making a real plan for a change. "Hey, Hiccup. How'd your day go?"

Nodding at Lucius, he shrugged. "Eh, pretty good. I've got a few friends coming over while you're gone, if that's okay."

"Of course that's okay!" Lucius grinned at him, nudging his shoulder. "I told you you'd make friends in no time, Hic. Bet you even made them on your first day."

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup leaned against the window gazing at the passing scenery. "I guess. Maybe it really isn't all that bad, being here." He wasn't as alone, after all. Violet could probably be a decent friend after all of this, and as weird as it seemed, maybe it wouldn't be terrible keeping Jack around either. Sure, the other people at school might think he was weird when he talked to the winter spirit, but that was a small price to pay to give Jack a much needed chance to talk about things for a change.

"That's the spirit! If only I could have the same mindset about tonight." Lucius gave him a half-smile at that, while Hiccup only smiled. The car ride seemed to go fairly smoothly from there on, with Lucius joking about what his wife would probably pester him about when they got home and Hiccup listening with small comments on occasion. Really, he was finding himself wondering if there really was anything to use in his plan. Terrifying others had seemed like a good idea to start with, but now? Now, he was thinking he might have hit a new record for the insanity level of his ideas.

Lucius and his wife were long gone before anyone even got to his house. Violet arrived first, with Merida in tow. "Hey." Hiccup opened the door for them, stepping aside so they could come in. "Uh…come on in, I guess. The living room is right there." He watched them move over to the sofa, taking a seat and glancing around.

"Nice place ya got." Merida turned towards him, smirking. "So, what's this big meeting about? We talking more about yer little friend from before?"

Feeling warmth in his cheeks, Hiccup let out a weak laugh. "Friend…yeah. Uh…maybe?"

"So this is about that white-haired lad." Merida shook her head. "I thought it might be. After what he did last night, I'd almost say we should just let him deal with his own problems. Seriously, he broke into—"

"Merida, it isn't that big of a deal." Violet interrupted, glancing over at Hiccup with a weak smile. "Besides…don't you have something to say to Hiccup _before_ yelling at him about that?" Merida frowned, while Violet seemed to lean closer to her. "About a certain way you acted at lunch?"

Waving her off, Merida rolled her eyes. "Oh, like you were any better. Come on, do you think anyone in their right mind would listen to a story like that? I mean, Rapunzel I get. She'll listen to anything you tell her. But a logical person? Not a chance."

Shaking her head, Violet leaned back with a sigh. "Sorry, Hiccup. I thought she might actually be willing to apologize for being wrong yesterday, but I guess some people can't admit things like that." He still didn't know what had changed, but this might at least make things a little simpler.

Another knock at the door interrupted, and he quickly moved away. "Uh…right. I'll just…be back, I guess." Leaving them in the room, he opened the door for a smiling Rapunzel, who moved passed him before he could even invite her in.

"Hey Hiccup! This is your house? Wow, it's so big." She walked around, seeming to stop when Toothless finally seemed to join them instead. "Aww, and look at this little cutie." Toothless eyed her warily, staying close to Hiccup with watchful eyes. "I remember you from the other night. Are you ready to be friends yet?" She held her hand out towards the cat, making Hiccup blink at her in surprise. Toothless seemed to eye her hand for a moment, before shaking his head and sauntering off towards the living room instead.

"Sorry again. Like I said…he's not really the kind of cat that likes being around people."

She smiled, rising to her feet. "It's fine. I can tell he's a sweetheart anyway, just by looking in his eyes. I mean, why else would he be so loyal to his owner?"

Well, that was one way to look at it at least. Shrugging, Hiccup guided her towards the others. Toothless had claimed his own chair, while Merida was scowling at him from her own seat. She held her hand to her chest, clutching it tightly and seeming to keep her distance. Glancing towards Toothless, Hiccup hung his head. "Toothless…please tell me you didn't attack our guest."

"He damn well did! At least give a girl a warning before you send an untamed beast upon her."

That…was a bit extreme. Hiccup sighed, picking up Toothless to sit with him in the chair, letting the cat sit in his lap instead. The animal purred as Hiccup began scratching his neck. "Yeah, yeah, fine." He waved it off, glancing at the others. "So…just to clarify before we start talking…you two believe me about Jack now, right?"

"Believe you? He barged in on us in the middle of doing our homework!"

Well, so that was why Jack had thanked him. It seemed like he might have been more convincing than he thought he was. "Oh. He was probably just trying to keep an eye on Violet then. I mean…he's kinda trying to stop the guy giving us all these nightmares anyway."

"Us?" Rapunzel glanced over at him, her green eyes wide. "Wait, are you having nightmares too?"

"Just one." Hiccup shrugged. "It's not that bad." At least, it wasn't yet. "But…I wanted to make sure it stays that way. Jack told me a bit about this guy we're facing…and it isn't the kind of person we can fight directly. For starters, Jack…kinda implied that spirits like him are immortal. So, attacking this spirit head on? It isn't going to do anything but annoy the guy."

"Did you find out what he even wants?" Violet glanced at him, seeming to hug herself on the couch. "I mean…it is just weird that he'd give us all these dreams for no reason…other than to show us our fears."

"Well…that kinda is his goal, actually." Violet blinked at him, while Hiccup laughed nervously. "Uh…well, he's kinda just trying to terrify us. And by us, I mean…any teenager, really. Kinda like Jack, we can't see him without some weird trigger, but that doesn't mean we can't do something about this. He told me that before now, this guy has only targeted children. If he keeps doing that, Jack has some friends that are willing to stop him. It's their job to protect children, after all…but he makes it sound like that keeps them too busy to look out for the rest of us as well."

"So…you basically want to stop our nightmares…by giving children nightmares instead?" Violet stared at him, before glaring harshly at Hiccup. "That's just as bad as he is! We at least have the ability to tell ourselves 'oh, it's just a dream'. Kids don't get that! Everything is real to them, and if they panic, it becomes a disaster!"

What exactly made her think it was that bad? "Aye. When my brothers sleep poorly, you'd think they'd be less energetic and actually stop pulling pranks for a change. But no, they get worse. Much worse." She shuddered slightly, shaking her head. "I'm with Vi on this one. No nightmares for children, not if we can help it."

"I…actually wasn't thinking of doing that anyway." Hiccup stared at them, biting his lip. "See…he wants people to be afraid. My point was that it has always been his goal, and that it won't change, regardless of who he targets. So…if he wants people to be afraid, how do you think he'd react to someone else taking the credit? To someone actually being named as the one terrifying the town instead?"

"Like… a super villain?" Rapunzel blinked at him, before clasping her hands together. "That's perfect! Oh, if this guy has any sense of wanting to be known and feared, we'd just take it away from him!" She paused, blinking for a moment. "But wait…wouldn't that just mean he'd target us more directly? If he really can't be hurt, I don't think that's the greatest idea after all…"

In the sofa, Violet seemed to be slightly pale after his suggestion. "Yeah…plus, it's not like anyone of us is a villain, right? We couldn't pull it off."

"But what if we can?" Hiccup glanced over at Toothless, smiling faintly. "All we need is the ability to make people think we can bring nightmares to life. I mean, doesn't that sound like something a Super could do? Give people nightmares, and making dreams reality…in the end, super powers really aren't that different from magic. People will believe what is more readily available as an answer, and whoever this guy is will realize that he can't get the notice he wants unless he targets people unable to rationalize a plan to fight back."

"So…this once again goes back to getting children targeted? We already agreed not to do that, lad." Merida glared at him, however, that was when he heard a noise tapping at his window. Glancing outside, he saw Jack wave, grinning at them all.

"Hold on a second." Walking towards the window, he opened it to let the winter spirit inside. "Are you really that impatient, Jack? We just talked in class."

"I know." He glanced around, spotting the others and giving them a wave. "But I was bored, and it's not like I plan on leaving the area with Pitch around. So, what's the little meeting for? Having a study group or something?" He walked over towards them, pausing by Toothless with a grin. The cat's green eyes seemed to lock on him, looking playful as he seemed to crouch and prepare to pounce on Jack. Yet, the winter spirit shook his head at the animal, holding out a hand as if to tell him not now.

"Actually, we're talking about your little villain pal in town." Violet glanced over at Hiccup shaking her head. "This idiot seems to think that it would be best if we got him to just target someone else."

"Actually, that wouldn't be a bad plan." Jack put his hands inside the pocket of his hoodie, glancing around. "My friends won't help out unless kids are in danger. They've got…a lot of other things to deal with, usually after all. So, this is kinda up to us to fix right now. The main thing is…it isn't like he'll just give up that quickly."

"I was thinking we could take credit for what he's doing, actually." Hiccup glanced over at Jack, scratching his neck. "I mean, the whole point is so that he, specifically, is feared. So, what not create a super villain of our own to replace him? It'd fit with kinda what Violet assumed about you at first, and people would believe it."

"Wouldn't Supers target you too then?"

Rapunzel blinked at Jack's response, tilting her head. "Right…and it's not like we can put up a real fight against them or anything."

"Speak for yourself, lass. I've got plenty of skills to take care of myself whenever I need to."

Glancing at Toothless, Hiccup nodded slowly in agreement. "And…I've got my own ways of getting out of rough situations too." He paused, petting his cat. "Plus, it really only has to be one of us playing the role of villain. Since it was my idea, I figured I'd take the risk and actually do that. I just wanted others to kinda…help with the broadcasting of a new villain kinda thing. Setting up more events that look like some nightmares come to life type of thing."

"I could definitely help with that." Jack glanced over at Hiccup, grinning. "You wouldn't believe the kinds of things I can make out of ice, let alone frost. Just tell me what you need, and I'l get it ready."

"If you need an archer by your side, I've got the best aim you'll ever find." Merida seemed to meet his gaze. "So long as there is someone out there to make sure the nightmares stop once we're free of this guy, I've got no problems with helping out."

"Sounds like we're all on board then." Hiccup clapped his hands together, rising to his feet. "Let me just get some stuff out of my room, and I can start making a design of—"

"Wait." Violet spoke, looking up at him. "You're…we're concerned about actual Supers interfering, right?" Hiccup nodded, making Violet swallow. She took a deep breath, standing up and meeting his gaze. "Then…let me be the villain. I…out of all of us here, I'm the best suited to dealing with…other Supers, I think."

"Really? Have you met them or something?" Rapunzel stared at Violet, who kept her gaze focused on the ground in response.

Jack watched her, slowly flying towards her instead and frowning. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, you're probably right on being able to handle it…but we can manage with someone else."

Meeting his gaze, Violet nodded, dropping her hands to her sides. Hiccup still had no idea what he was missing, but she seemed determined anyway. "I can do this. Those dreams…I need to face them, somehow. This? This plan, as ridiculous as it is…it is my only way of facing it head on."

"Alright. Then I guess we'll need a costume of some kind for you…plus, some kind of grand entrance for a villain…" Hiccup trailed off, trying to come up with a plan. However, Violet looked up with him, slowly giving him a small smile.

"I…might know someone who could help with the costume, actually. Leave that much to me."

Nodding, Hiccup glanced at the others. Rapnzel smiled, nervously reaching into her bag and pulling out a frying pan, of all things. Hiccup frowned at her, seeing her approach Violet and hand it towards the girl. "And this could probably be the best weapon you've ever used. You'd be surprised how useful it can be." Violet blinked at the pan, taking it and glancing at Hiccup who shrugged.

"Uh…thanks, I guess." Rapunzel smiled, but Hiccup had a feeling there was more of a story involved in using that pan than they were seeing. The girl smiled, taking a seat and watching over them again.

Staring at Toothless, Hiccup realized that maybe there was something he could contribute as well. Though, his pet likely wouldn't appreciate it all that much in the end. "Hey…Violet?" The girl glanced towards him, but Hiccup was focused on Toothless' green eyes instead. "How exactly do you feel about heights?"

She followed his gaze, laughing for a moment and shaking her head. "I don't think I stand a chance of getting close enough to him for that. No offense, but Toothless kinda hates all of us, Hiccup."

"He doesn't hate me." Hiccup blinked, glancing towards Jack who grinned, crouching down. "And if we're creating nightmares…why not have a little bit of fun with a dragon too? I think this is going to be a blast after all." He looked towards Violet, smiling at her. "Get your costume ready, because we're going to be taking this town for ourselves with our own personal nightmares." Violet nodded with a faint smile, and Hiccup could only grin with them. This could work. He had to believe that. Really, they didn't have any other options anyway, not against something they still hardly understood.

 **And they have a plan in place to deal with Pitch! I do hope you are enjoying the story thus far. Feel free to review and tell me what you think!**


	14. Chapter 14

Really, Violet wasn't certain why she volunteered for this. She'd been listening to Hiccup's plan, feeling more and more wary every moment. That stupid dream kept coming to mind, and while she was glad it kept her from embarrassing herself about what she was considering a slight crush on her friend, it didn't change the fact that it bothered her. So, she told herself she'd face that fear, as much as she could. Yet, it probably wasn't the best way she could go about it. Getting the suit itself for the role would be bad enough, let alone actually playing a real villain. Edna would probably hate Violet for using one of her suits for infamy, but maybe she was wrong. At least her family wouldn't know she got it. Unless she put in a tracker like she'd done with her Dad's suit before Supers were legal. That thought made her pause, shaking her head. She had to stay positive!

The suit itself hadn't taken long to develop. She'd told Edna that she wanted to try doing some work on her own, without her family for a change. That meant she'd need to go under a different name, like her mom going as Elastagirl or something. The designer had only been too happy to have a chance to personalize the costume for an individual again, rather than an entire family. Violet had asked for something darker than before, and Edna had delivered. The suit itself was slick, mostly black in color. Violet thought it made make her skin look pale and washed out in comparison, but Edna had flashed in streaks of dark violet in the design, saying she'd been inspired by Violet's force fields. They almost looked like the energy inside of her fields too, scattering out in random bursts across the fabric itself. With dark purple boots and fingerless gloves to finish the suit, Violet actually thought it fit her personally better than the bright red she usually wore. This kept her in the dark, making her stand out less than bright colors in a fight. It really was a shame she was using it for this…but she didn't have any new ideas over the week they'd planned this out.

Now, Violet stood dressed in the outfit. Her mask was even different, this time covering her hair as well. She had pulled it back in a hair tie, at least attempting to hid from her parents exactly what she was doing. Right now, she couldn't help but be worried that someone was going to interfere. Jack was in the air above her, resting on Toothless in the sky. Merida was ready to run a path through the backstreets near her, shooting arrows that Hiccup had designed to look like snakes of some kind. She still didn't get how Merida would be able to shoot them, but the girl had insisted that she'd make it work somehow. Rapunzel had told them to go to her if any of them got hurt, claiming she had a lot of experience with some kind of first aid. Violet wasn't going to even ask why, since it at least kept one of them away from what could potentially become an actual battle on the streets of town.

So, what exactly was Violet going to do with all of this? Well, that was what she was a bit nervous on. Usually, she was against villains that had a set goal. Most of them wanted to get rich or get power, and had a set target. Her? Her role was a villain that just wanted to be a villain. She'd want the spotlight on her, and would gain it by any means necessary. It really didn't fit with her personality, and that was why Hiccup was with her, talking her through the plan one last time. "Are you sure you want to do this? Really…it is my own plan, so you don't have to if you don't want to."

Meeting his gaze, she nodded. "I have to." He wouldn't understand why. None of them would. This was her own problem to deal with, after all.

Hiccup nodded, giving her a weak smile. "Alright then. Just…be careful, okay?"

She nodded, smiling weakly at him. "I will. Trust me, I know a thing or two about how Supers and villains operate in this town. We might be placing a bit of an oddball into the crowd, but I can definitely pull off a believable act here."

He nodded, stepping back. Over the last week, they'd actually done nothing but watch. Nightmares had spread, which wasn't that surprising given the rate they'd spread amongst themselves. Her parents had commented on it even, saying something was weird about the way Violet's peers were acting. After watching Dash's latest track meet last night, they'd only emphasized that belief. With the way their school set up those events, students of all age groups competed in different events on the same day. For the younger kids like Dash, it had been obvious that they loved the sport and were invested in winning. For Violet's grade? The students were there because they had to be. When they were signaled to start, some of them seemed too dazed to even move. It was like watching snails race in comparison, with none of them putting in much effort to win. Overall, it helped their case now, though. Violet could see that Jack was right about the effects those dreams would have. Now, she just had to claim that she had caused them.

Walking forward, Violet took a deep breath. She glanced up, giving Jack a slight nod. Hoping he saw, she began walking towards town. The dragon followed not long after, swooping down low to the streets with a loud roar. Toothless seemed to grin, opening his mouth and inhaling sharply. Ice shot out quickly in front of Violet, only for Toothless to unleash a massive blast of fire into the town. That was part of why Jack was the better pair with Toothless than Hiccup for now, actually. With his snow and ice, he could at least minimize the damage Toothless would cause on his rampage.

More roars and blasts started getting the attention of others. People waking up walked outside, seeing Violet walking with a dragon by her side. They'd scream, backing away in fear. However, that would be when Merida would shoot. Already afraid of Toothless, they'd see the fake snakes and run, not even questioning what was shot at them. If that wasn't enough, Hiccup had set up his own smaller contraptions around town. They were catapults, meant to launch whatever he deemed scary enough into town. So, that often led to fake bugs, or random goo getting launched into the streets.

Once she noticed the news catching wind of her, Violet let out her best impression of a villain's evil laugh. However, it wasn't exactly comfortable and she found herself coughing part way through the process. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and tried again, glaring at the camera. "Greetings! I am Miss Terror, and I've come to bring your nightmares to life! For months now, I've been growing my power, making you fear exactly what I can do and seeing inside of your minds to know your greatest fears. Today, witness the true depth of my power for the first time. Witness my power…to bring those fears of yours into reality."

It was ridiculous, really. She had no massive contraption like Underminer, and it wasn't like Syndrome who had massive robots fighting for him either. Yet, Toothless was enough. Hiccup had mentioned something about trying to get others, but it didn't look like they were even needed. As chaos began to start growing further. Jack landed Toothless and seemed to grin, kneeling down. "Ready for this?" Violet nodded, watching as he sent out sharp shards of ice, creating massive spikes jutting into the air and giving the entire street a sense of danger. She hadn't seen him use much magic involving ice, but he wasn't lying about being skilled. Right after that, he seemed to take a deep breath, covering the ground in frost and tracing images on the surface. From there, Jack's drawings came to life. Violet watched as more dragons seemed to fly into the air, side by side with ghosts and whatever else Jack imagined in his drawings. It made it seem like Violet was creating an endless swarm of unnatural creatures to terrorize the town, and it worked surprisingly well.

"Any sign of this guy we're supposed to be drawing out?"

Jack glanced at her, hearing her whispered question. He glanced around slowly, before nodding. "Yeah. He's…watching for now." He didn't say much else, frowning before continuing on his work. That was when he seemed to stop abruptly, spinning around and sending a blast of ice behind her. Surprised, Violet turned and saw another spike of ice in the street, but this one looked different. Intertwined with the faintly blue crystal, she saw streaks of black twisting inside making it look darker than the rest. "Or…maybe just a little more than that."

Violet swallowed, before looking up again. Raising her volume, she tried to keep up the act. "This town will belong to all of us! You will tremble in fear over my name! No one else has such great power, the power to control dreams themselves and mix them with—"

"A touch of fear. Give them his trademark, Violet."

"—a touch of fear." She had hoped for something a little more impactful than that, but she wasn't going to argue with Jack. However, that was when things started to get a little bit…difficult to manage. The ice Jack had created began melting into the air, making Violet scan the street for signs of a familiar Super. "Looks like we're going to have company, Jack."

The winter spirit blinked at the melting ice, before grinning and rising to his feet. "Another ice user, huh? Let me guess… _this_ is the Frozone you thought I was when we met." Spotting the blue suit skating amidst the ice, Violet slowly nodded. "Let's see if this guy knows how to have fun with his magic or not then." With that, Jack charged forward, getting ready to fight for her. Glancing towards Toothless, she saw the dragon shrug, resting on the ground and closing his eyes as if he were bored with the entire thing.

A warning shot came from the sidelines. with Merida shooting an actual arrow rather than the snakes she had been using. Jack sent a blast of snow towards him as well, which Frozone quickly melted with a swift grin. "You know, I like your style, but I think you need to take a lesson from the master, Miss Terror." She smiled, realizing Jack was still invisible liked planned.

"Master? Are you seriously saying you're better than me?" Jack shook his head, and with a laugh, snow began to fall from above them. "Try and top _this._ Last time I made a storm like this, Bunny decided to hate me for nearly forty years. Can you stop what he couldn't?"

Uncertain of what that was about, Violet tried to laugh it off. However, that was when she realized just how harsh this storm was. It was a whiteout blizzard, preventing her from seeing a thing in front of her. "What the hell is this? You can't be serious…" Frozone seemed to try again to tame the snow, but it was a blizzard rather than a simple attack like before.

Seeing her chance, Violet stepped forward. "As you can see, I can make nightmares come to life, Frozone. You fear being overpowered…fear losing to a villain. As a result, I can bring your nightmare to life and guarantee my victory, so long as there exists even the slightest worry that such a thing will occur."

"Every power has a weakness! You will be stopped!" Frozone was denying everything, but that was when Violet felt something slam into her back. She didn't know what it was, but it made her stumble, inhaling sharply. Turning around, she expected to see her family getting ready to fight as well. However, that wasn't what she saw. Instead, she saw a golden pair of eyes staring at her through the white, and a dark shadow came lashing out towards her. Instinctively, Violet raised her force field, blocking the attack. Luckily, the blizzard stopped Frozone from seeing her power, and revealing who she really was.

"Oh? Well, now this is a familiar sight." That voice sounded…odd. Violet wasn't certain what she was expecting, but he sounded too calm all things considering. "The super hero who fears failing her family…who fears that she will bring about their destruction. Imagine my surprise, to see that you are the one claiming to be creating this wonderful fear in the world. Imagine my surprise…to see that Jack Frost, of all people, stole away the belief that was rightfully mine."

Staring at him, Violet took a deep breath. When had she started seeing him? She didn't know. Maybe it came from her acknowledgment that pretty much any fairy tale was real. He could have been any number of them, but that didn't matter. "You aren't getting away with this. Jack, Hiccup…all of us, we're ending this plan of yours right now."

"Are you really?" She felt hands grab her shoulders, spinning her around to face the town. She felt cold, and she was startled at how close he had gotten without her noticing. "Take a good look, young Super. Are people afraid?" She saw people running and could hear their screams. "Then I have succeeded, have I not? You, my dear, have only helped further my goals in the end."

"But they'll never believe you were the one who did this. Not even the dreams."

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "Perhaps. Though…why would that worry me? After all, you seem to be a smart young girl. You know when you can't win…so why not help me instead? Announce your 'sidekick' to the world. Tell them I'm here, helping from the shadows…always ready to jump out from their closets or under their bed to give them the true fear they hold close to their hearts. Do that…and I just might be able to help with your own problems in return."

Snorting, Violet pulled away. A flash of red seemed to run past her, towards where Frozone had been. Her family was here now, preparing to fight against her. "I don't have any problems that I need _your_ help with."

"Oh really?" He laughed, letting her go. "Then tell me, why are you still so afraid of failing them? Of remaining so weak?" She closed her eyes, not liking his words. Jack was in the air, focused on his blizzard, Merida was likely waiting for it to end to keep firing her own arrows, and Hiccup was no where to be found. She was alone, and this wasn't stopping. "I can make you strong, Violet. By my side…we will be unstoppable. I can guarantee your family's safety too, if you just consider the possibility of—"

"Shut up. Please"

"Did I strike a nerve? I suppose you really are a lot like Frost after all, then. He wasn't all that fond of my advice either…and take a look at where his refusal to listen has brought him." Violet frowned, glancing towards him. What did that even mean? "All alone, yet again, with the only person he ever relied on forgetting he even existed. If only Jack had agreed to help me, then he could have had an ally, a family to remain by his side for eternity. But no, he was foolish and chose the _Guardians_ over me, over true power and what we could bring about together. But you…you aren't a fool like him, are you? You know when you cannot gain something on your own, and this power you seek…you cannot find it without me."

Jack was…alone? Thinking back, she inhaled deeply. She hadn't seen him around anyone before. He mentioned his friends, sure, but had she seen them? Heck, she hadn't even seen Jack until…until she believed he was real. It was starting to slowly make more sense, why people like Jack acted as they did. Kids would believe anything…so they protected the people that could actually see them instead. People weren't supposed to see Jack and his friends once they were older. That was why he was breaking his own rules right now. Yet…did that mean he would have been happier with Pitch?

She took a deep breath, seeing a quick flash as Dash ran past her. She jumped to the side just in time, but he was quickly coming back. "Times almost up, Violet. Tell me now…and I'll help you win. Tell me we'll work together…and bring this town to its knees."

Looking up and meeting his gaze, she found herself taking a deep breath. "I am Miss Terror…and I am the only one responsible for the fear this town is enduring. No one will stop me…not even you." Pitch glared at her, charging forward with a sudden leap. Shrieking, Violet ducked, letting her body become invisible and rolling away. Now, she saw a massive scythe in the real villain's grip, made out of some dark material she had never seen before.

No longer caring about the act, Violet glanced up into the sky and let out a shout. "Jack! Help!" The snow seemed to slow for a moment, and it didn't take long for a shot of ice to come between her and Pitch.

"Violet? Honey, we're here! Just hold on!" Her mother shouted, having heard her own voice. Yet, she didn't realize the truth quite yet. Jack was invested in his fight with Pitch, glaring at him and keeping him away from Violet with a swift slash of his staff, colliding with the scythe Pitch wielded.

"Pitch…I see you've shown your face finally. Ready to give up this little ploy of yours? Because I have to say, it's just getting to be boring always winning like this."

"And I have to say you're annoying, Frost. Is there a single rule you won't break in the end?" Pitch chuckled, shaking his head. "Of course not. After all, you're still the same spirit from before…who just can't help but ruin everything."

"Maybe. But you do have to admit, a lot of people have fun in the process."

Listening to their banter wasn't exactly helping, but it at least gave her something to distract herself. Pitch's earlier words still frightened her, making her realize she really might have been willing to…help him. She could see what Jack meant, when he said the guy had a way of terrifying people with just his words. Still, she had to focus. With the snowfall slowed and Jack distracted, she was now facing her family and Frozone as a villain for a change. "Alright…let's put on a good show." She had to win, after all. If she lost, Pitch would be free to grow his reputation again on his own.

Her dad launched her mom, throwing her towards Violet. She didn't know when she became visible again, but without thinking, she ducked to the side. Stretching out her arm, her mother aimed a punch towards Violet's face. However, she'd seen that move so many times before. Leaning to the side, she at least managed to avoid a direct hit, but her mom curved the attack at the last second, slamming into her shoulder instead. That hit shoved her towards Dash, who seemed to smirk as he delivered a rapid series of punches into her side, leaving her winded and hitting the ground hard. Trying to catch her breath, she looked up just in time to see Frozone preparing a blast of ice against her. Rolling away with a yelp, she took a deep breath and bounced back to her feet.

Her motion placed Violet next to her dad, who grinned and seemed to get ready to stop her as well. "You really should have picked—" He broke off, jumping back as a blast of fire came between the two of them. Toothless growled at her father, flashing his teeth at the Supers joining the battle. By his side, she caught the sight of Hiccup, staying low near his leg and trying to remain out of sight. Yet, this fight really wouldn't go well if she couldn't use her own powers. "The dragon can actually breath fire? Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I've been dealing with slowing down a blizzard, thank you very much." Frozone shook his head at her father, turning back towards the girl. "She doesn't seem to have much skill in terms of close combat. If we can take out her creations, we just might have the upper hand after all."

"Against someone who uses fear itself to win?" Elastagirl shook her head. "No, we have to be smart about this. She's luring us into a trap…it's almost as if she wants us to attack that dragon she made."

She didn't have any such plan, but she'd let her family think she was smarter in this battle than she actually was being. However, that was when Dash ran forward again, laughing. "That's why we have our secret weapon!" Looking up, she blinked in surprise at what he was carrying this time.

"D—son No! Why'd you bring your brother on the battlefield?" Violet looked over, seeing Jack Jack in her brother's hands. Groaning, she quickly took a few steps back, hoping to at least avoid some of his however many powers he would use.

"Is that…a baby?" Jack saw her brother, and Violet nodded.

"Don't ask. Just focus on Pitch!" The winter spirit shrugged, but Pitch had used his distraction to his advantage. He got a solid hit in to Jack's stomach, sending the spirit flying back onto the ground. He quickly rose back to his feet, joining in the fight again to keep Pitch down. Meanwhile, golden sand seemed to start hovering in the air above them, making Violet wonder just how many Supers were coming to this battle in the first place. She didn't have time to search for them however, because that was when her brother started using her own trick on Jack Jack.

"Jack Jack, pew pew!" Hearing the command, she quickly ducked, seeing her baby brother activate his laser eyes. The green blasts shot past her, shattering the windows of some store behind her. Violet winced at the shattering noise, but cringed completely when the alarm started blasting through the street. She really wasn't doing well with her goal of minimizing damage at all.

"Get the baby out of here!" Arms grabbed Dash, pulling him back away from Violet. "We'll deal with—" Elastagirl stopped, freezing when she realized Jack Jack was no longer in Dash's arms. Startled, her brother seemed to start looking panicked himself, trying to search for the boy. However, her mother focused on Violet in the process, charging forward with a shout. "Find the baby, I'll keep her busy."

"You feared the danger your child was in, didn't you? You feared you'd lose him in this battle." Violet smiled, keeping her fake creepy voice going. She had to play this role, and when she saw her mother's enraged expression, she wondered if maybe she'd taken things a little too far. However, before her mom could actually do anything, golden strands wrapped around her waist, yanking her into the sky. Startled, Violet spun around, preparing herself to launch an attack at the newcomer. However, that was when she noticed exactly who it was. A man, completely golden with hair that almost looked like sand smiled at her. He gave a slight bow, before pointing down with a frown, a question mark forming above his head.

"Sorry…but I have no idea what you want. I've got something I'm kinda in the middle of, so—" The man stopped her, grabbing her wrist and keeping her trapped on his…flying sand cloud. Snowflakes made of sand appeared above his head, followed by what looked like Pitch's face, then the question mark again. "Jack? He asked us to come up with some plan to stop Pitch. He said his friends wouldn't help unless he was targeting kids…" She trailed off, frowning at him. "Are you one of his…friends? The Guardian people he kept mentioning?"

The man nodded, smiling brightly. "Then I suggest you go help him. That enemy of yours has been wreaking havoc in this place. He really shouldn't have targeted those of us with super powers, really."

Nodding, the man landed with her, frowning at the battle around him. He grabbed Pitch away from Jack quickly, sending the man flying into the air with whips of sand. Compared to Jack, this guy's power seemed different…and far more suited to an actual fight. "Sandy? What are you doing here?" The man narrowed his eyes at Jack, placing his hands on his hips. "Don't give me that look! I was the one who told you guys Pitch would be coming back soon. I was just trying to stop him before he became as big of a problem as he was last time."

The shorter man gave out a silent sigh, shaking his head before focusing again. However, Violet was already getting tossed about once more. A loud grumbling was coming from her side, and she jumped back as she saw her brother in his demon baby form, charging forward. Dodging, she glanced around. It might really be time to search for an escape now, so she could win and come back to 'fight' another day. However, that was when her baby brother seemed to realize he was just barely out of reach and that a different form might harm her. He burst into flames, making Violet gasp in pain as the fire burned her exposed fingers, turning them angry red and blistering them in an instant. To stop the fire from doing any further damage, she found herself putting up a force field, shoving Jack Jack back as she stumbled away.

Her parents had been mostly distracted by trying to find Jack Jack, but Dash had seen the power. "Wait…Violet?" Hearing his words, she cringed, running towards the dragon behind her. Even Jack Jack had paused, dropping his flames and sitting as a regular baby for a change.

Not answering, she realized she'd have to get Toothless to trust her, and fast. "Hiccup, let's get out of here." The boy saw her, nodding and jumping up on Toothless. "Let's hope he doesn't hate me as much as I thought he did."

Chuckling, Hiccup shook his head as she got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I can at least say he likes you better than Merida."

"Like that's any better."

Toothless charged forward with that, leaping upward and into the sky. She saw her mom try and launch her arms forward to grab in, but Toothless growled and quickly shot out a warning blast at her grip. "Come on bud, let's get higher now." Before her dad could try launching Elastagirl, Toothless shot straight up into the clouds, out of sight and away from them. "So…did we manage to help out at all?"

Looking at Hiccup, Violet let out a shaky breath. Thinking back to Pitch, and how Jack seemed to get help at the end, she slowly smiled. "Actually…I'm starting to think we should have just had Jack talk to his friends in the first place. I…met one of them. He seemed pretty willing to help out anyway, without kids being involved."

"Well, there was that baby in the fight…"

Snorting, Violet shook her head. "Like he counts. Jack Jack really doesn't have control of his powers yet and—" She broke off, realizing what she'd just said. Hiccup blinked, glancing back at her and raising his eyebrows.

"Jack Jack, huh?" He watched her, slowly smiling and focusing ahead of them. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone about it. But…I have to say, I did see you do some pretty unusual things yourself in that fight. Plus, you know exactly where to go to find the kind of costumes Supers wear? I get the feeling you're not exactly the normal girl you appear to be, Violet Par."

"Uh…well, you see, it's not me that knows where to get them. It's, well, this friend of mine? She, or well he, or…did I—"

Hiccup's laughter stopped her rambling attempts to write it off. "Come on, stop trying that hard. I know the sound of someone struggling for an excuse when I hear it."

Sighing, she leaned forward, resting on his back. She winced slightly as her fingers bent the wrong way, the pain lingering after Jack Jack's fire. "I guess I am." She looked towards him, frowning. "You're not lying, right? You seriously aren't telling anyone?"

"I won't." He landed, waiting for Violet to get off of Toothless. Rapunzel was waiting here, she remembered. "After all, it's not like you don't know a few secrets of my own. Toothless here isn't exactly a normal pet, and it's not like he knows he has a secret identity to keep too." He gave Violet a crooked smile, and she laughed at that. Maybe it really wasn't so bad having him know the truth. Yet, that was when Rapunzel rushed out, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Oh my gosh! Is the fight over already? Your hands!" She grabbed Violet quickly, shaking her head. "Here, I'll take care of that quickly." She seemed to pause, glancing around. "You two are my friends…and it is about time I got over this fear of letting people know about this secret anyway. Eugene did say people aren't all that likely to want to steal my hair after all, even if they did know the truth."

"Steal your hair? Again?" Hiccup groaned, closing his eyes. "I don't know what it is with you thinking—" He broke off however, when Rapunzel began singing. The lyrics themselves weren't anything special, but what caught both his attention and Violet's was her glowing hair. "Uh…I take that back. Glowing hair…definitely normal."

"Like you're one to talk, mister-dragon-for-a-pet." Violet smirked at him, while Hiccup only smiled and sighed.

"Alright, you got me there."

She smiled, however, that was when she realized the pain in her hands had faded almost completely. Rapunzel's hair stopped glowing, and she seemed to release Violet with a smile. "There, all done. See, my hair…kinda has magic healing powers? I guess you could say I'm a Super…but I'm not really all that great in a fight."

"That's gotta be one rare ability, lass. I take it that's why you've avoided school for so long?" Merida seemed to have caught up, walking towards them and shaking her head. Glaring towards Hiccup, she placed her hands on her hips with a scowl. "And you! How dare you just leave me standing around in the middle of no where? You have no manners whatsoever, do you?"

"Oh really? And you do? You were the one who kept saying my plan for the rubber snakes was lame!"

"Because it was. What adult is afraid of some prank toy like these?" She held out some of the remaining fake snakes, dropping them on the ground with a shake of her head. "Either way, it's already done with. I take it Violet's been helped too?" They nodded, and Merida placed her hands on her hips. "Then I suppose this mission can be considered a success! Team Dunbroch has finally finished our task, and now everything can go back to normal."

"I highly doubt that'll be the case." Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest, grinning at her. "After all, we did make friends with an invisible winter spirit. I have a feeling that talking to our new friend might make us seem a bit odd at school…and that it might bring a few strange things into our lives in general."

Thinking about Jack, Violet couldn't help but nod in agreement. The winter spirit would likely hang around town like usual, and this time, she'd know what signs to look for to find where he was. He'd be their friend that no one else knew about, the hidden member of their group that usually only children saw. In the meantime, Violet would hide away her villain suit for good, and only pull it back out if things got desperate again with Pitch. Dash might have an inkling about her being involved, but it wasn't like he had proof when it was Hiccup hiding away the suit itself. After letting him search her room, he would back off and have nothing to show in the end, so she'd be back to her normal life. Or well, at least as normal as her life could ever be. Maybe she'd hold off on doing much else for a while, though. As much as she thought she had been ready to date before, she was starting to realize that maybe she needed to get used to handling a few close friendships first, before figuring out how to balance her time out properly with everyone she was starting to value having around in her life.

 **Thank you all for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**


End file.
